IMAGINE catering for 30,000 people a day for two days in the middle of the holiday season with no trains available and the UK Ironman event on the doorstep.

That is the scenario faced this month by Paul Heathcote. The celebrity chef and head of event and stadia catering business Heathcote & Co has the job of organising food and drink for the 60,000 people attending two concerts at the Macron Stadium.

On Friday, July 13, American rock band The Killers appear there and on the following day, UK pop princesses Little Mix star in their sell-out concert.

“These appeal to two quite different demographics,” explained Paul, “and have different needs, especially for drinks.

“Basically, for The Killers’ concert when there will be a lot of men we need plenty of beer available. For the Little Mix crowd – with so many mums and young girls there – we need enough soft drinks and then gin and tonics and Prosecco for the mums.”

This is why there are currently 40,000 bottles of water stored at Bolton Whites Hotel and there will be 50,000 pints of beer and hundreds of bottles of Prosecco available for the two dates.

“The main thing with concerts is that people don’t have to spend a long time queuing for food and drink because they don’t want to be there while the music is playing,” commented Paul. “So, with drinks, we also have staff going around the stadium with backpacks containing bottles to take drinks to the fans.

Food catering is basically in four areas each night: in Bolton Whites Hotel itself, in the hospitality boxes, in the function areas like the Platinum Suite, the Lion of Vienna and the Hall of Fame and in the kiosks at stadium-level.

The food in the hospitality areas will be dishes like pan-fried fillet of sea bass on ratatouille or lamb shank with chick peas and chorizo while the kiosks will be selling burgers and hot dogs. Actually, selling around 6,500 burgers and 7,000 hot dogs, plus vegetarian and vegan wraps.

Not surprisingly, there is a small army of staff ensuring that all the fans are kept well fed and with enough drinks. This numbers 350, including those involved in setting up and clearing afterwards.

“It is like a military operation,” admitted Paul who started making plans last December. “Then, for instance, we were ensuring that the extra staff coming in for Christmas events were available when the concerts were on.”

Fortunately, Paul and his team – some of whom have been with him for 20 years – have been involved with concerts before. In Liverpool, Manchester and elsewhere, he has catered for concerts by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen and Take That. In fact, he has catered for around 400 concerts plus major events like Sir Alex Ferguson’s testimonial dinner and Sir Paul McCartney’s home-coming event in Liverpool.

Cool under fire, Paul says he is “a pretty laid back person who sees challenges there to be overcome”. So worst-case scenarios for him on this special weekend of entertainment?

“Certainly, the electricity failing or staff not turning up,” he said, “But we’ve over-ordered on staff anyway, just in case.”

And even the ongoing lack of weekend trains and the immediate area near the Macron Stadium affected by the Ironman road closures on the Sunday does not faze him. “I’m really looking forward to it all,” he insisted, smiling calmly.