Alex Throssell

What were your role(s) at Concrete?

I was a writer for Music in my first year, became the Music Editor in my second year, and was then Venue Editor in my third year. (2009-12)

Do you have any favourite stories or stand out moments from your time with Concrete? 

As a Music writer, I really felt part of the music scene which was so vibrant at UEA at that time. The late Nick Rayns’ influence as the Union’s booking officer meant some truly special bands came and played incredible gigs over the years. Attending shows and interviewing artists to represent Concrete remain some of the best memories of my time at UEA. 
 
Playing up front in the Concrete football team against Livewire in the Media Bowl (we hammered them, I think I scored twice in the first half? Maybe 6-0 result?) to leave at half time, run across campus and quickly get changed to interview Joe Mount from Metronomy who were playing on the NME Awards Tour before heading downstairs to watch the show and write up my review was a wonderful day. 
 
I have so many fond memories of the ‘old’ Concrete Office, regularly spending well over 12 hours in there on print deadline days, and countless other times throughout the week. The burger phone, the little sofa that had allegedly been used for all-sorts!, the quote book, filling the table with CDs after a post-run and the ensuing scramble from the Music team, the knackered old PCs that could barely run InDesign. It was cluttered and objectively a bit naff, but it felt like our own little creative bubble, and I loved my time spent in there with the rest of the team. I found an old framed photo of Stephen Fry reading Concrete from the 90s in the office, which I took at the end of my final year, which still proudly hangs on the wall at home. I think I might also have the burger phone! 

Were there any key events, developments or changes in Concrete during your time?

As much as it wasn’t to my taste, Coldplay coming to UEA in 2011 to play an intimate gig as part of BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge was a huge deal for Venue and the Music editors at the time. We ran a separate pull-out with brilliant photography and a whole set of articles focussed on the gig and the surrounding hysteria. 
 
Politically, student protests over the increased tuition fees enacted by the Lib Dem coalition were rife and well attended and covered by the News editors at the time. Interviews with Simon Wright the local Lib Dem MP, and a trip to London to attend protests stick in my mind. 
 
We also protested the impending closure of the UEA Music School, a student lock-in at the Registry and widespread outrage at the perceived loss of arts and culture on campus were popular in Concrete’s pages. 
 
2011/12 also saw the decision from the Union to scrap the paid Editor in Chief position, to be replaced with two volunteer Editors instead, which I believe remains the case to date. A big change in the structure of the editorship, this was a tense time for those of us who had targeted the Editor’s role as a job opportunity post-graduation. 

Do you have a favourite article that you wrote?

My review of James Blake’s debut LP, is probably the article that I think of most, although I can’t remember what I wrote! I had very generously received a pre-release physical copy of the CD from Jenn at Chuff Media who represented him at the time, and I still cherish that CD as a relic on the cusp of digital downloads. I remember speaking with other writers who were on the fence, but I think I knew it would be a fundamental record. The fact that James Blake remains one of my favourite artists, and is award winning and still hugely critically acclaimed over a decade later is a testament to that. 

What was your proudest Concrete moment?

I might be more proud of the collection of Venue issues that I edited than my dissertation or my degree! I can genuinely say that writing for Concrete was the best decision I made at UEA, and it has had such a positive influence on my life and my memories of University. 
 
Dishonourable mention for muffgate. I really hope Hannah Britt fills out this survey and says the same thing. I’m still haunted by it! 

What have you done since leaving, and has your experience with Concrete helped you?

With a passion for print running high, I helped create student run independent magazines White Paint with my good friend Sean Purdy, who was on his own magnificent journey into becoming a brilliant graphic designer. 
 
After graduating, I took issues of Concrete and White Paint to an interview at local publishers Archant in 2013, and got offered a newspaper planning job which led to a decade’s career in local publishing. I know from their reactions that writing and editing Concrete while also studying for my degree was impressive to them, and what made me the best fit for the job. 

Anything else you’d like to add!

I’ve had a great time reminiscing while filling this out, thanks for sparking the memories! 

Chris Teale

What were your role(s) at Concrete?

Sept. 2010 – June 2011: Sports Correspondent 
Sept. 2011 – June 2012: Sports Editor; Treasurer 
Sept. 2012 – June 2013: Managing Editor; President 

Do you have any favourite stories or stand out moments from your time with Concrete? 

It’s hard to pick just one. So much happened, whether it was Derby Day against the University of Essex, the closure of the School of Music, the Men’s Rugby team being banned, protests against rising tuition fees, contentious votes in Union Council, and likely more that I’m forgetting. 
 
Perhaps the biggest stand-out moment from my time with Concrete isn’t related to the physical newspaper itself. It was 2013, and we would typically stay late on Sunday nights to get pages ready for the printer, eat takeaway and hang out a bit. On this particular Sunday, we heard Of Monsters and Men sound-checking downstairs for a gig in the LCR that night, and decided as a collective that we’d stay and listen since they sounded so good. About a dozen of us ended up sitting in the corridor outside the old Concrete office, from which we could hear the LCR music clearly. For what it’s worth, Of Monsters and Men were amazing, but it was also the people we heard it with that stuck with me. I remember feeling truly happy. 

Were there any key events, developments or changes in Concrete during your time?

The biggest change was the editor-in-chief role transitioning away from being a paid member of Union staff to a student one at the end of my second year. It meant I helped figure out a new structure for the newspaper with various others, and also rewrote the society’s constitution and got that through Union Council to remove references to the paid editor, as well as to modernise it a bit. 
 
In my time, I also like to think we helped thaw relations between Concrete, Livewire and UEA:TV. As president, I helped launch what was then called the Concrete Show on Livewire, something that we basically made up as we went along once a week. My first year was also the first ever Media Ball, and in general, I’d say we moved in the direction of being on better terms with the other media societies at UEA. 

Do you have a favourite article that you wrote?

A few spring to mind. The front-page story I wrote recapping Derby Day 2013 was a good one, and there’s another about a student getting caught in a phishing scam that made the front page that was a good one too. I also remember being immensely proud of some of the sports coverage I produced, including of sports like netball, volleyball and badminton. I remember writing a recap of a netball match in my first year that made the back page, and it was a real highlight of my first year in journalism. 

What was your proudest Concrete moment?

I don’t know if it was a moment, but that entire third year made me so proud. We had to restructure, pass our degrees and still figure out how to get a newspaper out, and we did it. We were the first to be all-volunteer, and it was a bit difficult at times, but we managed it. I look back on that whole year with a lot of fondness. We even won some awards, which was awesome too.

What have you done since leaving, and has your experience with Concrete helped you?

I live in the United States, and have done since I graduated in 2013. I live in Washington, D.C., where I still work as a journalist, having moved here for a girl I met at UEA, only to see things with the girl end. 
 
Currently I work for a publication called Route Fifty, where I cover state and local government technology. I’ve also worked covering tech for Morning Consult and Smart Cities Dive, and before that had stints in local news with ARLnow and the Alexandria Times. 
 
Concrete has been huge for me. Every day that I write, interview or report, I’m putting into practice skills I learned at the newspaper. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. 

Anything else you’d like to add!

It feels like a long time ago, mainly because it was. But Concrete has a special place in my heart and in my memories. Seeing the newspaper go from strength to strength is so rewarding, even though I last was on campus over a decade ago. 

Billy Sexton

What were your role(s) at Concrete?

Features Editor 2011-12 
Sport Editor 2012-13 
Online Editor 2013-14 

Do you have any favourite stories or stand out moments from your time with Concrete? 

‘Eddy from Pool’ winning Derby Day 2014 in a crunch match when scores were tied. We did an interview with him that made the front page! 
 
The burger van that used to come outside the LCR on Saturday night being ditched by the Union at the start of the 2013-14 year blew up online. I don’t think the burger van ever made it back. 

Were there any key events, developments or changes in Concrete during your time?

Editor in chief went from being a paid role to unpaid. 
 
It was also the time the website probably started getting much more traffic than the print edition. 

Do you have a favourite article that you wrote?

‘Eddy from Pool’ stands out 

What was your proudest Concrete moment?

Live blogging Derby Day as Sports Editor in 2013 and having our live tweets displayed on screens across the university and us publishing the winning tweet and getting loads of retweets, likes etc 

What have you done since leaving, and has your experience with Concrete helped you?

Worked in marketing, editorial and now sales but Concrete definitely got me in the door at my first job 

Anything else you’d like to add!

Just want to let you know that the editorial team should enjoy your time – it’s a fun society and really helpful for your employability. 

Anna Lou Walker

What were your role(s) at Concrete?

Copy Editor: Spring 2014

Do you have any favourite stories or stand out moments from your time with Concrete? 

The time that the LCR cash point was stolen while the entire Concrete team were inebriated at the Christmas Media Ball was pretty memorable! But my favourite times were sitting in the office on a Sunday morning proofreading the paper after all sharing a night out the evening before. Met the people who remain my best friends! 

Were there any key events, developments or changes in Concrete during your time?

I believe we were the first year that the editor in chief position was unpaid, and one of the last years in the old office. RIP to the very grubby Concrete couch! 

What have you done since leaving, and has your experience with Concrete helped you?

I’m working in journalism. I was the editor in chief of Reader’s Digest magazine for five years, and now I’m the senior arts and culture editor at The Conversation UK. Concrete undoubtedly helped me get my start in the industry and the experience of working in a collaborative newsroom, chasing stories, sub editing and working to deadlines was invaluable. 

Geri Scott

What were your role(s) at Concrete?

Editor-in-Chief, 2014/15 

Do you have any favourite stories or stand out moments from your time with Concrete? 

It’s where I met my best friends, who are still my best friends now, and found out I wanted to be a journalist. All my favourite stories are of sticking it to the SU and university! 

Were there any key events, developments or changes in Concrete during your time?

Yes! We overhauled the website and I created the digital archive (does that even still exist?!) by getting all the paper back copies digitised. 

What was your proudest Concrete moment?

Getting press passes from Radio 1 to see Taylor Swift at Big Weekend in Norwich! Fighting off threats of censorship from the SU… 

What have you done since leaving, and has your experience with Concrete helped you?

Concrete got me my first job! It was the 2025 election and I went in to see the editor at the EDP to see if they’d like to use some of our writers for coverage from the SU bar overnight, and when I got home I had an email offering me a job as a trainee reporter. The pay was rubbish but it was a great opportunity. I started at the EDP before graduation and stayed there until 2019, when I joined the Yorkshire Post as Westminster Correspondent, then moved to PA as Lobby Correspondent and now I’m at The Times as Senior Political Correspondent. 

Anything else you’d like to add!

Lots of us from my era meet up every year and do Concrete Christmas, so it lives on…  

Oliver Povey

What were your role(s) at Concrete?

Writer from 2017 to 2020 

Do you have any favourite stories or stand out moments from your time with Concrete? 

I really enjoyed covering the university football team, also playing in the team itself which meant I could do some team interviews during the pandemic and how it was affecting the team. 

Were there any key events, developments or changes in Concrete during your time?

Pandemic being the obvious one, meant I couldn’t go to the matches because none were being played! 

Do you have a favourite article that you wrote?

The second interview I did I think with Sam Nelson 

What was your proudest Concrete moment?

Having the first article in the paper, printed. Felt surreal. 

What have you done since leaving, and has your experience with Concrete helped you?

I have since become a sports journalist in Spain; I used articles I wrote at concrete as part of a portfolio. 

Anything else you’d like to add!

Here’s to another 400 

Chris Matthews

What were your role(s) at Concrete?

Writer, Comment Editor, then Editor-in-Chief  (2017-20)

Were there any key events, developments or changes in Concrete during your time?

The pandemic hit midway through my time as Editor. My deputy Jess Barrett and I had to keep things running at a vital time for Concrete as we kept students informed about the latest Covid info and university restrictions and repercussions. We also had to train the new team remotely on Concrete’s systems. Thankfully we had a stellar team who all stepped up in an unprecedented time of need. 

Do you have a favourite article that you wrote?

Student left in limbo by UEA for five months after alleged sexual assault

What was your proudest Concrete moment?

There’s a few! We launched a mental health campaign supported up and down the country that changed the way mental health was dealt with by UEA, our Global Reporter William Warnes was nominated for an Amnesty Award for his Human Rights exclusives on student protests in Hong Kong and Chile, and our team stepped up during the pandemic to keep producing quality content. It was a privilege to add to Concrete’s rich legacy with the help of such a diligent and talented team – many of whom are now successful journalists at national and regional outlets across the country.  

What have you done since leaving, and has your experience with Concrete helped you?

I can safely say Concrete has helped me more than my degree! When I was looking for a job, no one asked about what I studied, they cared about what I did at the student paper. These days I’m a news reporter at MailOnline, the most-read English language news website in the world. I also do Assistant Night News Editing and copytasting. The skills I learned at Concrete – news writing, media law, organising a team, editing, data journalism/FOIs, investigative reporting – are skills I still use today. The newsroom is full of student journalists – at the Mail alone there’s at least four from Concrete. Whichever uni you’re at, if you want to become a journalist, join your student paper! 

Anything else you’d like to add!

I always look forward to receiving a copy of Concrete through my letter box. My days at Concrete are long-gone but I’ve kept in touch with many of the friends I made on the paper. It’s a delight to see Concrete flourishing under Eve and Matthew’s leadership. 

Image: Concrete/Geri Scott (Media Collective at Derby Day 2014)