Halifax-based Metro Guide Publishing has been sold to its longtime printer, Advocate Printing & Publishing. The purchase includes Halifax Magazine, East Coast Living, Port of Halifax, Our Children and Where Halifax, which is on license from St. Joseph Media.



Advocate Printing & Publishing CEO Sean Murray says he bought the company for growth and because he believes in the medium, so no job cuts will be made to Metro Guide Publishing’s 13 staff members. “Print is good! I think there is an incredible future in strongly focused print products which serve nice markets,” he says. “The only print in jeopardy is titles which can’t identify with a specific group. Online and in print, publications that focus on areas of interest I believe can deliver excellent value to the reader and the advertiser.”

Metro Guide Publishing owner Sheila Blair-Reid had been with the company for 22 years, starting as the marketing director moving to publisher and buying the company in 2001. “I decided to sell the company about a year ago, I want to be focused on my family,” she says. Patty Baxter will take over as publisher of the magazine titles at Metro Guide, says Blair-Reid. Baxter has been with the company for 20 years as associate publisher, Blair-Reid will stay on as a consultant. 

Advocate Printing & Publishing also prints titles not owned by Metro Guide Publishing, including Progress Magazine and Saltscapes Magazine.