When John Wishart and Martin Shine sat down to record a podcast, they didn’t know their chat would touch on Robert Mugabe, the Hoover Dam and Keynesian economics.

Last week, the pair uploaded on to YouTube the inaugural podcast of the Simple ‘n’ Natural shop, a health food store in Wanstead High Street stocking herbal medicines, vitamins and minerals.

The 20-minute chat between John, the shop’s owner, and Martin, its website designer, tackled the world’s economic crisis but could also serve as a promotional tool for the shop itself.

John explained: “It was just spur of the moment. We covered quite a range of different subjects.

“You have to think how it’s best to market your business. A lot of the older people, they can’t see the benefit in Twitter and YouTube. I’m a bit of a novice at these sort of things. But once Martin put it in place, it made sense.”

With a microphone in hand, they conducted their conversation over the shop’s counter at the end of the work day.

And in future podcasts, they could explore subjects which touch on the shop’s ethos such as modern-day lifestyles, vegetarianism and veganism.

Martin has promoted the area by uploading videos on to YouTube on the website’s Wanstead Television channel. Highlights have included footage of last year’s Wanstead Festival and Art Trail. The website includes an online store showcasing its latest products.

It could be a valuable tool against one of the biggest challenges – Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre. John said: “When it opened, I saw the trade go down on a Saturday by 25 to 30 per cent. It’s five miles away, but it’s so big it acts like a hoover.”

In the first episode of their podcast, John suggested government spending in infrastructure projects – put forward by economist John Maynard Keynes to deal with the Great Depression of the 1930s – as a solution to the current financial gloom. But simpler solutions such as web marketing and podcasting may suffice for now in Wanstead.