Blue Arrow’s catering chief has given a recruiter’s eye view of the Gate Gourmet crisis that engulfed Heathrow Airport last month.

Nick Gourley, sales director for catering and hospitality at Blue Arrow, has revealed that Gate Gourmet had earlier requested a drip-feed of seasonal summer staff from the recruiter.

But this quickly became a torrent when British Airways ground staff later walked out in sympathy for two days, forcing the airline to shut down its operations at Heathrow.

“We originally had a three-month contract with Gate Gourmet. We were due to provide it with staff over a three-month period, but we were quickly asked to send in everyone when the dispute arose,” said Gourley.

The dispute broke out on 10 August when Gate Gourmet, owned by US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, sacked 670 UK staff earlier in the month after workers walked out over the hiring of temporary staff.

As the dispute gained worldwide notoriety, with 100,000 passengers stranded at the airport, Blue Arrow was quickly instructed to fill the gap.

Gourley played down the tabloid frenzy of workers having to cross angry picket lines.

“Yes, there were protesters, and there still are, but to be honest, there have been no warnings given to staff about picket lines, and there has been no trouble at all with them being allowed to come into work,” he said.