Former chef to Prince Charles joins Alpha LSG Heathrow project
A former chef to Prince Charles is to join airport foodservice Alpha LSG's multimillion-pound investment programme at London Heathrow Airport in an advisory role.
Chris Barber will be joining the "premium kitchen" catering concept, which was successfully trialled at Gatwick and is now set for Heathrow. The concept will aim to create an improved logistics centre and centre of culinary excellence, and also include a dedicated halal area and customer suite.
Barber, who is now a kitchen consultant and works in business development, started his chef career at the London Intercontinental Hotel, and then spent 10 years as part of the Royal household, working as chef to the Queen, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Axel Bilstein, chief executive at Alpha LSG, praised Barber for his extensive insight and knowledge of food and drink trends, plus the all-round expertise he will bring to the site.
He said: "Chris has been brought on board to provide Alpha LSG with inspirational mentoring and training. He will also help the design team to ensure our customers enjoy a unique, premium experience when they visit us at LHR."
Commenting on his new role, Barber added: "Alpha LSG has an exciting and dynamic vision for the future of its catering operations and I'm delighted to be asked to advise them on turning their vision into reality. They will be introducing an inspirational new premium service for their customers at Heathrow which will raise the bar in terms of culinary excellence."
The premium kitchen is set to be completed by December and open by 2014.
Alpha LSG provides catering services at 16 airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Luton and Bristol, employing 3,600 people and generating revenue of over £300m.
