A WEYMOUTH guesthouse and its owners have appeared in a national television advert.

The advert features the real-life story of Shirley and Paul Stephenson, owners of Wadham guesthouse on East Street, along with their business manager Andy James in the Barclays ‘You Said We Did’ campaign.

It was first aired during ITV’s News at Ten programme, and will now continue to feature in ad breaks for the coming months.

The commercial highlights how a local lending clinic gave Mr and Mrs Stephenson the confidence that they could run their own business successfully and fulfil their life-long ambition of running their own bed and breakfast.

But, despite the advert being potentially seen by millions of people, Mrs Stephenson said she wasn’t nervous when they were filming.

She said: “It was very interesting to see how everything works behind the scenes.

“The opportunity to share our story and give confidence to other people looking to set up in business was one we couldn’t turn down. It’s been an exciting journey, with some ups and downs along the way, but we haven’t looked back since we met Andy at the local Barclays lending clinic.”

The ‘You Said We Did’ marketing campaign was set up to demonstrate to customers that Barclays is making changes suggested by customers.

Barclays’ local business clinics have been operating all over the country, offering free help to businessmen and women and are open to everyone – aiming to give entrepreneurs an opportunity to hear from experts and get hands-on advice.

Mr James said: “Small businesses such as Shirley and Paul’s are the backbone of the local economy in Dorset and I’m delighted to have played a part in helping them fulfil their dream.”

The couple also paid tribute to Barclay’s, adding: “Basically without the clinic we wouldn’t be where we are today.”