The 2010s began with Danny Collins taking on the Editor role. Concrete’s sections looked a little different from today, with an ‘International’ section, ‘Turf’, focused on the environment, a Food section and ‘Focsoc’ dedicated to clubs and societies. September 2010 saw The Event replaced with Venue (which had previously been the name of the What’s On section in the supplement). There were many of the same sections seen today, such as Arts and Creative Writing, but with the addition of ‘Wired’ which combined articles on gaming and the internet, a comedy section, as well as general listings in Norwich and a fun competitions page.  

2011 saw Concrete celebrate its 250th issue, with a double page spread presenting a variety of front pages through the years. February also saw Concrete’s annual Sex Survey being blocked by the Student Union, in an issue which also saw the introduction of a fun feature called ‘Clive Cares’, in which UEA’s ‘favourite bus driver,’ Clive Ashcroft, answered questions in his own Agony Aunt column!   

September saw the first of the annual redesigns of Venue, moving from a grungy look to a more minimalist design under Alex Throssell. Alex recalls how this year saw, “Coldplay coming to UEA in 2011 to play an intimate gig as part of BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge [which] was a huge deal for Venue and the Music editors at the time,” while in News “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.”  

Alex also reflected on his “fond memories of the ‘old’ Concrete Office” to us, “regularly spending well over 12 hours in there on print deadline days […] 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 […] 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 there with the rest of the team.”  

2012 saw the decision from the union to move to an unpaid editor of the paper, with Amy Adams being the first volunteer. This coincided with the renaming of the role to ‘Editor-in-Chief’ (EiC). Alex recalls that it was “a tense time for those of us who had targeted the Editor’s role as a job opportunity post-graduation,” while Chris Teale, who became Managing Editor in September (essentially Deputy) remembers “It meant I helped figure out a new structure for the newspaper with various others, and also rewrote the society’s constitution.” Teale also remembers that year as seeing better relationships between the media societies, with the beginning of a Concrete show on Livewire and the first Media Ball, whilst the team also won Best Publication at the first Student Publication Association awards.  

2013-14 saw the introduction of some new features to the Editorial page – an Agony Aunt feature ‘Hayden Helps’, and ‘Quick Questions’, speaking to a different university figure each issue. Reflecting on her standout moments from the year, Copy Editor Anna Lou Walker remembers “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!” The year also saw a celebration of UEA’s 50th anniversary, and a celebrity interview with George Ezra!  

In May 2014 Geri Scott took over as EiC, introducing the current Concrete colours of blue and yellow, and implementing a redesign which remains the basis for the current look. Mid-2014 also saw the creation of the Media Collective, and their move into a new office (where Scholars’ is now). They marked our 300th issue in September with a 20-page Archive Supplement (in addition to a 15-page Freshers’ Guide), while Geri also recalled creating our digital archive on Issuu.   

In Summer 2015, Radio 1’s Big Weekend came to Earlham Park (Geri got press passes to see Taylor Swift!). Greg James came to Norwich to announce it and the Media Collective gave him a tour of their new office before he started his show from Unio! He also signed a copy of Concrete, which is still on the wall in the Media Office today!   

In one of Geri’s final issues as EiC, there was a 20-page 2015 General Election supplement, including interviews with local and senior politicians, opinion pieces from writers, predictions about polling, and an overview of the individual parties and their manifestos. This year left a big impact on Concrete, and Geri told us “Lots of us from my era meet up every year and do Concrete Christmas, so it lives on…”  

From September 2015, Dan Falvey and Joe Jameson took over as EiCs, with the Media Collective also moving into our current Media Office. Venue saw interviews with The Wombats and Nothing But Thieves under the new leadership of Ana Dukakis and Joe Fitzsimmons. In December, Venue released a literature supplement, ‘Frontier’, showcasing the creative talents of UEA.  

In 2016, Concrete won Best Publication again at the SPA awards in April. We were also Highly Commended for Best Newspaper Design, Best Sports Coverage and received a Special Mention for Venue’s art supplement, Frontier.  

Megan Baynes took over as EiC from June 2016 and added the Ziggurats to the logo. Politically, there was significant coverage of the US Election in 2016, with a dedicated double-page spread in 331 with comment pieces and analysis on Trump’s rise to presidency. In addition, Concrete found that 77% of UEA students wanted to remain in the European Union through the results of a mock EU Referendum Poll.   

The start of 2017 saw Queen Elizabeth visit the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts to attend the exhibition ‘Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific’, as documented by the entire Media Collective. Concrete also commemorated Pride Month with a double-page spread speaking to LGBTQ+ students and staff on campus about their experiences. As part of Do Something Different Week, UEA hosted a campus wide murder mystery, which Concrete documented with a Cluedo-esque design and tips on how to get involved.   

Issue 338 celebrated the 25th anniversary of Concrete, with a 56-page special looking back at the last quarter century of life at UEA. The cover featured articles from the archive and inside detailed the history of Concrete from 1992 to 2017, with dedicated pages to each year and the biggest stories they broke. They also celebrated the occasion with an event at the Sainsbury Centre with returning alumni. 

From June 2017, Emily Hawkins became EiC, with her first issue covering the results of the 2017 General Election, and a new ‘Finance’ section added. In January 2018, Venue released another creative writing supplement, Contrast, celebrated with an accompanying open mic event.   

In her final editorial, Emily reflected on the year, saying “As I write this, the office is packed… copy-edits, old issues and pieces of paper with my and Sophie [Bunce, Deputy Editor]’s frantic scribbles of page plans and to-do lists” were scattered across the desks. “It’s this image of chaos that has been my home, sometimes almost too literally, for the past two years.”  

2018-19 brought the biggest front-cover redesign yet with the addition of full-page photos. Sophie Bunce became EiC, and a ‘Hey UEA’ section was added with UEA-specific news and a Concrete archive feature, mirroring the one seen in Home of the Wonderful today. This year also saw Sophie and Deputy Editor Matt Nixon launch our current Livewire show, ‘A Week in Concrete,’ and create a digital-only ‘Eco Issue’. 

Taking over in September 2019 as EiC and rounding off the decade, Chris Matthews ran Concrete’s Mental Health Crisis Campaign, which a host of MPs pledged support for. A permanent Interview section was added, along with Home of the Wonderful (at this stage essentially a Media Collective noticeboard). Chris described adding to Concrete’s “rich legacy” as a “privilege” and praised the “diligent and talented team” he had, “many of whom are now successful journalists at national and regional outlets across the country.”  

Image: Concrete (25th anniversary celebrations with alumni at the Sainsbury Centre, 2017)