George Duggan was a building contractor who was involved in a new development for Freshco which Pat Phelan badly wanted to be a part of. The two were old acquaintances and Pat was keen to make out that he was the brains behind the operation of Jason's Construction while the true owner, Jason Grimshaw, was in shock having heard the day before that his father, Tony Stewart, had died of a sudden heart attack. Phelan took the opportunity to meet George alone at the yard while he made a tour of inspection, telling Phelan that he thought it would be a bigger operation and asking if he was being straight with him about his bankruptcy and future prospects. Phelan tried to paint a rosy picture which was ruined when Jason stumbled into the yard, not thinking straight but wanting to get on with work and life, and making it clear that he was the true owner of the business.
Pat tried to persuade Jason to leave and not spoil the impression that he was trying to create but the lad wouldn't listen. While George was distracted by a call on his phone, Phelan took the opportunity to beg Jason to leave and then dripped poison into his ear about confronting Liz McDonald, who Jason blamed for his dad leaving the area. He took the bait and stalked off to the Rovers while Phelan happily talked business with George about a leisure centre in Wigan that he was also working on.