GU2 is the radio station run by the students of the University of Surrey

University of Surrey

The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...

 in Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, England, which broadcasts on 1350AM during term-time. It is a long term Restricted Service Licence

Restricted Service Licence

A UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...

d broadcaster operating under an Low-power AM License. GU2 also broadcast online during term time at http://www.gu2.co.uk

History

The radio station started out as University Radio Surrey in 1972, before being rebranded as Guildford Campus Radio (GCR) in 1990. In 2001 the radio station was renamed GU2 after the postcode prefix of the area surrounding the University campus. Following the rebranding GU2 won the title of "Best Station" at the 2002 SRA Awards reflecting the pursuit of an innovative format featuring favorites such as the J-Team, Ben Lander, Gareth Davies and a fair smattering of Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 language and religious content overnight. GU2 has also won the award for "Best Interview" at the 2010 SRA awards. James Alexander won the award for his interview with Sue Doughty, member of the Liberal Democrats.

In 2004 the radio station was visited by the Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO is the third son and fourth child of Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh...

 as part of his trip to the University. Also in that year GU2, along with many other UK student radio stations, faced a crisis when the Student Broadcast Network

Student Broadcast Network

The Student Broadcast Network or SBN was a company who provided a sustaining service, news and advertising for Student Radio stations in the United Kingdom....

(SBN

Student Broadcast Network

The Student Broadcast Network or SBN was a company who provided a sustaining service, news and advertising for Student Radio stations in the United Kingdom....

) closed down. SBN

Student Broadcast Network

The Student Broadcast Network or SBN was a company who provided a sustaining service, news and advertising for Student Radio stations in the United Kingdom....

 had not only been providing the station with a source of income, but also providing news and music programmes to fill gaps in the schedule.

Other notable visitors include Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

 who was interviewed by the station.
In more recent times members have conducted interviews with We Are Scientists

We Are Scientists

We Are Scientists is a New York-based indie rock band that formed in Berkeley, California in 2000. Originally formed of Keith Murray on drums, Chris Cain playing bass guitar and Scott Lamb providing vocals and guitar, before Michael Tapper became drummer and Keith became vocalist and guitarist...

, Wheatus

Wheatus

Wheatus are an American rock group from Northport, New York. They are known for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag" which was featured in the movie Loser, as well as in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.-1995-2002: Formation and Wheatus:...

, Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge is an American rock band that was formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida by lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, who are all also members of Creed. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the frontman...

, Glasvegas

Glasvegas

Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan , Rab Allan , Paul Donoghue and Jonna Löfgren . The band received critical acclaim for their debut album Glasvegas which was released in September 2008, reaching No...

, The Twang

The Twang

The Twang are an indie rock band from Birmingham, England, formed in 2001. The band have released two studio albums - Love It When I Feel Like This and Jewellery Quarter...

, The Commitments

The Commitments

The Commitments is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, and is the first episode in The Barrytown Trilogy. It is a tale about a group of unemployed young people in the north side of Dublin, Ireland, who start a soul band.-Plot summary:...

, Venga Boys, Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip, Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun (band)

Empire of the Sun is an Australian electronic music duo that formed in 2008. The duo is composed of Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore of Pnau. The two met in 2000 after both being signed to the same record label. Luke and Nick knew that they instantly had a chemistry like no other...

, Ivyrise

Ivyrise

Ivyrise is a British rock band from London, England, consisting of lead vocalist and pianist Ben Falinski, lead guitarist Dan Tanner, drummer Josh Thaxton-Key and bass guitarist Mark Nagle.- Background :...

, Anberlin

Anberlin

Anberlin is an American rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band has consisted of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, and drummer Nathan Young.Members of Anberlin originally formed...

, Faithless

Faithless

Faithless were a British electronica band consisting of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The group is best known for their dance songs . Faithless recorded six albums. During their career they sold over 15 million records worldwide...

 and White Lies

White Lies (band)

White Lies is an English indie rock band from Ealing, London. Formerly known as Fear of Flying, the band consists primarily of Harry McVeigh , Charles Cave , and Jack Lawrence-Brown...

.

Organisation

GU2 Radio is a society and is run by a committee elected at annual general meetings held at the university. All students of the university are eligible to stand and vote in these elections. The GU2 society has a constitution based on that of its parent body- the University of Surrey Students' Union. The current station manager is James Bale.

Current Committee

Committee Member	Position
James Bale	Station Manager
Sarah Cooper	Assistant Station Manager
Lee-Anne Gough	Treasurer
Phill Nathan	Programme Controller
John Sharpe	Technical Manager
Liam Conroy	Head of Music
Sam Tovey	Head of Show Production
Daniel Friar	Head of Marketing
Lana Peswani	Head of Advertising & Promotions
Emma Armitage	Head of Sound Production
Sophie Stokes	Head of News
Andy Smith	Webmaster
Lorna Salmon	Head of Events
Richard Blackburn	Press Officer
Sam Limbert	Sports Editor
Sam Arnold	Street Team Leader
Jemma Slater	Social Secretary

Station Managers

Station Manager	Year
Gareth Davies	2000/01
Nathan Witaker	2004/05
Tom Knight	2005/06
Owen Hindley	2006/07
Barney Leavers	2007/08
Jack Colby	2008/09
Rebecca Wood	2009/10
John Bannister	2010/11
James Bale	2011/12