Shiny Digital emerges from the ashes

Whilst official word is still yet to emerge from the Shiny Media camp following news of its entering into administration yesterday, a new company based on many of its assets is already emerging from the shadows.



The Guardian reports that most of Shiny Media’s assets have been bought up by new company Shiny Digital, whose shareholders include Shiny Media co-founders Chris Price, Ashley Norris and Katie Lee.



Fellow Shiny Media co-founder Chris Price added to PaidContent that: Every effort was made to continue trading, including selling of assets, redundancies, downsizing offices and, in the case of the directors, substantial pay cuts.”



Price also denies that the firm received the full 2.7m in venture funding that reports claimed had been pumped into the company in 2007, saying the final amount was under 1m. PaidContent reports that in an email to employees Price blamed difficult trading conditions and overdraft complications for the collapse.



In a further complication, an ongoing disagreement with a party described as a minority shareholder” means that web, email and mobile access for many of the new firm’s key members has been temporarily frozen out – a problem that is also affecting sites such as WhoAteAllThePies that are no longer part of the Shiny network.



The saddest news is that many of Shiny’s freelancers remain unpaid, with many gathering in Central London last night in a social gathering that also gave prospective new employers the chance to meet and greet. Shiny had previously shed 17 staff members in February this year.



Administrator Wilson Field can be contacted on 0114 235 6780.

However, a small piece of good news for gamers comes in the confirmation that Gary Cutlack’s popular UKR will live on.

In June of 2007, high on venture money, Shiny Media bought ukresistance.co.uk and IdiotToys.com off me for a large-ish, but not life-changing, sum of money,” Cutlack stated on his satirical blog.

Two-thirds of the cash was paid on completion of the deal – on the day I started working for them full time – with the final third payable after I’dbeen at the company for one year.

In April of 2008, it became clear that Shiny was having financial problems as it chopped freelance budgets for the second or third time since I’d started, closed sites and dumped many good people, so I offered them the olive branch of giving me UKR.co.uk back in return for me waiving the final third of the payment. They agreed.”