Phil Jennings Philip " Phil " Jennings ( previously Smith ) was a businessman who dated Deirdre Barlow after her separation from Ken . Phil ' s business projects included PJ Leisure and PJ Promotions , based in Unit 14 in Coronation Street . In 1991 , Phil and his wife Valerie fled the country to escape debtors . Biography . Philip Smith was a man with big ideas . He was a businessman who enjoyed the lifestyle of money , women and risk - taking . Alec Gilroy knew him during this period , and knew of his reputation for tax dodging . Some time later , with a prison sentence behind him , Phil changed his surname to Jennings and started building a legitimate empire . One of his projects was PJ Leisure , a sportswear distributor . In September 1990 , Mike Baldwin tried to interest him in using Ingram ' s Textiles as a manufacturer , and invited him to a party at his flat along with Jackie Ingram , Alma Sedgewick , Deirdre Barlow and Ralph and Enid Dobson . Phil took Mike up on his offer and spent the evening chatting to Deirdre . Phil crossed paths with Deirdre again a month later , this time in her role as Councillor , when she campaigned against his amusement arcades on grounds that they were corrupting children . Phil was interested in Deirdre and readily agreed to refuse entry to the arcades for Under 16s . Deirdre reciprocated his interest but when he took her to a high class restaurant she made it clear to him that he couldn ' t buy her . Their relationship quickly caught Ken Barlow ' s eye as he spotted Phil ' s Mercedes parked outside No . 1 on occasion . Ken tried fruitlessly to block his donation of sports equipment to Weatherfield Comprehensive , and the promotion of PJ Leisure through its supplying of strips for all the school teams . Ken learned from Alec that Phil lived under an assumed name and warned Deirdre about him , assuming he was a crook , but Phil then told Deirdre all about his time in prison and she forgave him . One morning , Ken noticed Phil ' s car was still parked outside the house from the night before and barged in , intending to confront the couple , only to discover Phil had only left it there as he ' d got drunk while spending Bonfire Night with Deirdre and Tracy . Phil and Deirdre later spent New Year together in Paris . In February 1991 , Phil lodged at the Rovers Return for £20 a night , telling Deirdre it was because the police asked him to disappear for a bit in case he was called as a character witness at a trial . While staying at the pub , he started planning a club venture with Alec Gilroy . The new club was to be called The Al - Phi - Bet Club and operated in the old Graffiti Club premises , but Phil then dropped Alec and Bet as partners and then dropped the idea altogether . Instead , he bought the new Unit 14 Coronation Street factory unit from Maurice Jones and used it as a repair and storage shop for his arcade machines . The following month , Phil warned Andy McDonald about selling unofficial posters at a gig . Phil protected Andy when he was threatened by an official , Jimmy Charlton , and offered him a job with him but Andy turned him down and stayed at school instead . Phil later helped Deirdre with her campaign when she stood again during the Council elections . To pursue his grievance with Phil , Alec persuaded Alf Roberts to stand against Deirdre and organised him campaign , promoting him as a family man - a backhanded slur against Deirdre , a divorcee . When Phil ' s reporter friend Jeff Longton found out Alf had a bit on the side , Phil urged Deirdre to use it against him but she refused . Phil got the message out anyway ( even though it wasn ' t true ) by phoning into a radio talk show which was interviewing Alf and asking him about his relationship with Vivian Barford ( putting on an accent so Alf wouldn ' t recognise him ) . Deirdre lost the election to Alf but she accepted Phil ' s offer of fronting his new business , PJ Promotions . They were supposed to be partners but Deirdre did most of the work , to her annoyance . In June , Phil agreed to be best man at Mike Baldwin and Jackie Ingram ' s wedding . At the same time , Deirdre discovered that Phil was in debt and hadn ' t paid his arcade managers . Phil made a show of being Mike ' s friend before asking him for a £6 , 000 , which Mike refused , even when he lowered his request to £500 . In revenge , Phil told Jackie about how Mike had scammed her to win control of her late husband Peter ' s factory , causing the couple to separate after two weeks of marriage . In a last ditch attempt to raise capital , Phil organised a card school with Don Brennan , Des Barnes , Jack Duckworth and Jim McDonald , but ended up losing all he had left - £200 which Deirdre had given him to get his car repaired . He still owed Don £450 and instructed a heavy , Scotch Tommy , to get him off his back , but Tommy went for Phil instead as he owed him money too . Phil then disappeared but was eventually traced by Deirdre to a council flat where his wife Valerie lived . Deirdre discovered a badly beaten Phil about to leave the country with his wife . She faced the realisation that she was just one of his many mistresses and his flash lifestyle was all show . Phil and Valerie left the country as they planned , beginning new lives abroad .