The Argyll Hotel prospered, and became something of a focal point in the Strone/Blairmore area of Cowal, with many references to it in the local press as a gathering place after yachting regattas, horticultural shows, political meetings and so on.

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But George seems to have had a nearly infinite capacity for being in several places at one time, and by 1863 he had invested in a property at 57 Shaw Street, Greenock, a short ferry ride from Strone and Blairmore on the other side of the Firth of Clyde, and acquired a public house licence for it.  Greenock was a major seaport, the centre for sugar refining in the West of Scotland, had several cotton mills, and was well known for its shipbuilding yards.  In short, Greenock was a bustling seaport and expanding town.  George obviously prospered there too.  If he had been allowed to he would probably have opened several public houses in Greenock, but the civil authorities were concerned at the level of drunkeness and were intent upon reducing the number of licences, not increasing them; as a result, his applications for new licenses were repeatedly refused.  Instead, he had to content himself by purchasing a block of artisans' dwellings (51-53 Crawfurd Street), investing in railway shares, in his cousin Thomas's expanding shipping fleet and, perhaps with retirement in mind, a small estate in the north east of Scotland.  He bought the estate, the Fairy Glen, Rosemarkie, of about 112 acres, in 1875 shortly before he sold the Argyll Hotel, which had, by then, ceased to be the focal point for the local community, other more salubrious establishments having taken over. (It might be noted here that the founder of the temperance movement in the U.K. was John Dunlop [1789 to 1868], who died in London, but hailed from Greenock--John and George were not, as far is known, related.   It might also be noted that there were two great tussles in Greenock between the advocates of temperance and the 'trade', the first in 1868, and the second in 1920.   George Dunlop was actively involved in 1868, and his grandson, also George, may have suffered somewhat from the mood of 1920.)