EastEnders star cuts ribbon at new-look Post Office and store in Catford

Jake’s first acting role was in the 1984 television series The Gentle Touch, the same year that the Patel family took on their store at 189-193 Torridon Road, Catford.

The 10-week refit saw the whole shop taken back to brickwork and the forecourt completely redone to ensure smooth surfaces.

The family’s pride and joy is a new innovative walk-in wine and beer vault, where a former office had been, greatly increasing retail space.

The Post Office, which the Patels took on in 2006, has had a facelift and re-decorated with Italian red tiles.

The official opening event of this Nisa store gave customers the opportunity to meet the actor, who has starred in many television programmes and was a celebrity in Strictly Come Dancing.

The community also had the chance to try craft beers, rum punch, non-alcoholic Jack Beans fresh coffee, slushies and freshly squeezed orange juice. There was also free face-painting.

The walk-in vault has extensive racks of white and rosé wines, standard beers, a wide a choice of 300 craft beers, stored at the perfect temperature, ready to enjoy.

Instead of many fridges, the whole room is insulated and chilled with air conditioning. This is more energy efficient.

The room, with automatic glass doors, is distinctively decorated with metal panelling, black ceiling, Italian floor tiles with a grid pattern for grip, metal columns and mock gold bullion. Outside the vault area there are 200 whiskies, 100 gins, a wide variety of red wines and other alcohol that needs to be stored at room temperature.

The store is run by Postmaster Desai Patel, his brother Indriden, nephew Kaual, who came up with many of the creative ideas including the vault and the décor and cousin, Trusha.

Partner Kaual Patel, who focusses on the retail side of the store, said: “Customers knew that we were having a refit, but we wanted to give them a big surprise. I let a friend have a look and he was really impressed with the whole refurbishment. It has the wow factor.

“The vault approach worked out cheaper than buying lots of fridges. It provided more storage space, including slabs of beer. It is cheaper to keep everything cool. We are ready for the FIFA World Cup Football finals.

“People can come and buy beer, stored at the right temperature to drink, which even supermarkets can’t do. I am sure that people to travel to us as we are very well-stocked and the vault looks so different.

“This vault style of keeping alcohol cool is not normally seen in this country, but it is more common in North America. You would associate this with an up-market wine store in Knightsbridge or Mayfair, but I think that the idea will soon be followed by more stores across the UK when they hear how well it works.”