Tributes paid to founder of Excel Publishing

Martin Regan

TRIBUTES have been paid to Martin Regan, the former journalist and entrepreneur behind several independent publishing companies in the region, including Excel Publishing.

It is understood that Regan, 54, who lived in Alderley Edge, died unexpectedly in hospital on Tuesday night.

He leaves behind his wife Shirley and four children.

Regan is probably best known among the business community for founding independent publisher Excel Publishing in 1991.

It is behind titles such as EN magazine and Builder & Engineer magazine, as well as contract publishing – at one stage it was the largest contract publisher of Chamber of Commerce magazines in the UK.

Co-founder Pat Rafter took full control of Excel after buying out Regan and company chairman Pat Quinn in 2013.

At its peak the company employed 120 staff but numbers recently had fallen to less than half that number. Printing company Buxton Press bought Excel Publishing out of administration in January this year.

Having sold his 48% stake in Excel to co-founder Pat Rafter in 2013, Regan launched local newspapers Macclesfield Today and Cheshire Today.

Regan was also the co-owner of The Gateway Gallery  in Hale, which specialises in paintings by modern British artists, particularly those under the label “ The Northern School ”.

Fellow director Susan Eyres paid tribute on social media, saying: “Martin was a unique character with a profound love of art and will be very much missed.”

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