Sep 29, 2013, 4:07 am
Last edit by: 710 77345
A Food Safety Inspector from the London Borough of Hillingdon has inspected the food preparation areas of the Concorde Room and Galleries First Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5 (run by BaxterStorey on behalf of British Airways) and has indicated under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme that Food Hygiene and Safety is POOR:
It's an appalling score, putting the lounge in the bottom 10% of food establishments in England (worse than many burger vans and kebab shops!).
A 5/5 score was awarded in the past year to BA's T3 and (unspecified) Galleries T5 lounges (whilst under Compass' control prior to handover to BaxterStorey). Galleries Club Lounges in Terminal 5 A were reassessed in September 2013 and scored 4 (North Lounge) and 2 (South Lounge) - both are discussed here. Aer Lingus, Cathay, AA, Virgin and other airside lounges all scored 5/5. Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food received a 2/5 rating (food being cooked in a different way to the manual, burgers being kept warm rather than hot, a broken fridge and washing hands in a "utensil only" sink).
5 days after the score was first revealed on Flyertalk, BaxterStorey posted a statement just prior to a story being published in the Daily Mail (which was sourced from this thread!). A spokesperson for British Airways said "We work with BaxterStorey to provide a high quality service to customers using our lounges, and take all feedback seriously. We continue to invest in our product and are currently renovating our kitchen facilities.”
The Council's Report was obtained by Fife, published in .pdf here. The reasons for the poor score were not just the kitchen facilities, but included the following areas for immediate rectification:
Out of Date Ingredients: eggs and quince beyond their safe use-by date were being served to passengers.
Meat Stored at Room Temperature: ham sandwiches and cooked ham left at 16°C/61°F. The maximum safe temperature is 8°C/46°F
Hot Food Not Hot Enough: sausages and scrambled eggs left at 50°C/122°F. The minimum safe temperature is 63°C/145°F
Dirty Kitchen: 7 separate areas were found to be so dirty they needed an immediate thorough cleaning.
Cross Contamination of Food: a member of staff handled raw salmon, then immediately performed other kitchen duties without removing their gloves, or washing their hands, risking cross-contamination.
Risk of Access by Rats, Mice and Insects: a long gap in a kitchen back door required immediate filling to minimise pest entry points.
In addition, BaxterStorey were given until the end of September to accurately record the training given to their staff - Compass did not pass on their training records to BaxterStorey, and as BS had no record of training performed since it took over, BS was unable to hand any record of compliance with training standards to the inspector.
It's an appalling score, putting the lounge in the bottom 10% of food establishments in England (worse than many burger vans and kebab shops!).
A 5/5 score was awarded in the past year to BA's T3 and (unspecified) Galleries T5 lounges (whilst under Compass' control prior to handover to BaxterStorey). Galleries Club Lounges in Terminal 5 A were reassessed in September 2013 and scored 4 (North Lounge) and 2 (South Lounge) - both are discussed here. Aer Lingus, Cathay, AA, Virgin and other airside lounges all scored 5/5. Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food received a 2/5 rating (food being cooked in a different way to the manual, burgers being kept warm rather than hot, a broken fridge and washing hands in a "utensil only" sink).
5 days after the score was first revealed on Flyertalk, BaxterStorey posted a statement just prior to a story being published in the Daily Mail (which was sourced from this thread!). A spokesperson for British Airways said "We work with BaxterStorey to provide a high quality service to customers using our lounges, and take all feedback seriously. We continue to invest in our product and are currently renovating our kitchen facilities.”
The Council's Report was obtained by Fife, published in .pdf here. The reasons for the poor score were not just the kitchen facilities, but included the following areas for immediate rectification:
Out of Date Ingredients: eggs and quince beyond their safe use-by date were being served to passengers. Meat Stored at Room Temperature: ham sandwiches and cooked ham left at 16°C/61°F. The maximum safe temperature is 8°C/46°F Hot Food Not Hot Enough: sausages and scrambled eggs left at 50°C/122°F. The minimum safe temperature is 63°C/145°F Dirty Kitchen: 7 separate areas were found to be so dirty they needed an immediate thorough cleaning. Cross Contamination of Food: a member of staff handled raw salmon, then immediately performed other kitchen duties without removing their gloves, or washing their hands, risking cross-contamination. Risk of Access by Rats, Mice and Insects: a long gap in a kitchen back door required immediate filling to minimise pest entry points.
Response from BaxterStorey [lounge food hygiene "poor" rating]
Oct 2, 2013, 11:56 am
#526
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Blimey, just getting half a screen of the first page of t'other thread was enough for me.
Oct 2, 2013, 12:32 pm
#527
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Oct 2, 2013, 2:30 pm
#528
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Oct 2, 2013, 4:10 pm
#532
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+1. I think they are totally losing the plot. Paradoxically reminding me of the DM's continuing to dig their own grave on the 'man who hated Britain' affair.
Bloody hell. This is going from bad to worse. To be honest, the 4/5 of GC North while less bad is hardly stellar. As others have mentioned, I know many a mice infested central London restaurant who managed the same and the 'standard kebab' easily scores a 5.
Bloody hell. This is going from bad to worse. To be honest, the 4/5 of GC North while less bad is hardly stellar. As others have mentioned, I know many a mice infested central London restaurant who managed the same and the 'standard kebab' easily scores a 5.
We have seen dissapointment with the range and quality of food. Now we see even the most basic level of hygiene is proving elusive - something many of us observed before the ratings. This has now become a wider issue than simply the safety and quality of food in BA's lounges. The lack of ownership and reassuring response, fundamentally questions what BA wishes to be seen as by it's customers. Is it a well managed business, responsive to customers needs and concerns or is it a badly managed ill-informed business that is arrogantly oblivious and detatched from it's customers.
One of two things will happen. Either BA will say top down that "enough is enough" and make this a real priority and put effort and resources into making the lounge part of the product the best it can - and be seen to be doing do, or it will continue to ostritch it out which will be taken as evidence that they are poorly managed and either in decline or that the product we thought we had will not be what we see downstream or that it simply doesn't get it or care.
I hope we look back on this and see it as a pivotal moment on the way back to excellence that made many of us loyal to the brand.
Oct 2, 2013, 4:15 pm
#533
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Out of interest, does anyone what Virgin scored?
Oct 2, 2013, 4:17 pm
#534
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I wasn't meant to give that impression. I just thought when someone linked to the other thread said two buses coming along at once, they were saying it was another thread popping up on the same topic, I was just saying it was actually for a different bus.
Oct 2, 2013, 4:18 pm
#535
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Oct 2, 2013, 4:19 pm
#536
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They got 5, of course, just like every other airline lounge I checked at LHR scored, except for Emirates who got a 4.
Oct 2, 2013, 4:23 pm
#537
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Oct 2, 2013, 4:25 pm
#538
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Aside from one Mail article, the press don't care. It's a first world problem for rich .....es who think it's their right to quaff champagne, so it's about time these snobs got their comeuppance. Nobody takes the Mail seriously, as it's known for being hysterical.
Thus, the disgraceful situation, which in my view shows serious management issues, will never be of concern to BA as the bulk of their customers will never be exposed to anything.
I wish it were different, but the truth is, BA don't care - and this position isn't going to hurt them.
Oct 2, 2013, 4:46 pm
#539
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@ fife ... Realistic, if perhaps a bit sharp 
However, regardless of status or whatever, it's still a very disappointing state of affairs for both BA and BS. Let's not start snobbery or ad hominem ... the fact is that BS is letting down BA and its customers.
However, regardless of status or whatever, it's still a very disappointing state of affairs for both BA and BS. Let's not start snobbery or ad hominem ... the fact is that BS is letting down BA and its customers.
Oct 2, 2013, 5:03 pm
#540
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I just sent a tweet to Richard Quest (@richardquest, who does, amongst other things, travel reporting, as I'm sure you all know) asking if he had any thoughts on the matter and whether he, himself, uses the BA lounges at LHR. I don't know what carriers he flies. I included a link to this thread.
It probably won't be noticed, but you never know. He's pretty straightforward with his comments to business in his tweets... T-Mobile being a recent target.
It probably won't be noticed, but you never know. He's pretty straightforward with his comments to business in his tweets... T-Mobile being a recent target.