I recently flew a short-haul flight into London Heathrow Terminal 5. When disembarking, I noticed that one of the passengers had disembarked, but rather than go to flight connections / passport control, she stopped at the part of the aerobridge that was near the door.

She was waiting with an official, who didn't seem to be Border Force, nor was this person wearing purple i.e. like the the people that wave you towards the ePassport gates. I think he was possibly holding her passport, but I am not totally sure.

I'm just slightly curious as to what was going on. He was wearing ID on a lanyard, and the ID card seemed to have what I think was his nationality printed in caps at the bottom, along with some other text I couldn't quite read.

Anyone come across this before? Really curious as it isn't really something I haven't really come across with BA before.