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The boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who proposed the United Kingdom might have hit maximum pizza demand while diversifying the company into poultry items has been removed after tensions with its governing body.

Leadership Shake-Up

Rennie is exiting after a brief tenure in charge, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the company's chief operating officer, Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who worked for Domino's for more than two decades, had attempted to redirect Britain's leading pizza food delivery firm towards poultry-based products, commenting in a recent interview there was not “huge potential” left in the UK's pizza market. He observed chicken was the fastest-growing food category in the world.

Board Friction

It is understood that there was friction between Rennie and the directors over his approach and direction, although Domino's release said he was departing “by mutual agreement”.

New Product Introduction

In September, Domino's unveiled its poultry offering – which the former chief referred to as a “bold new chapter” for the company – and is testing it in select stores in the North West region and the province.

While the company is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores next year as intended, it regards fried chicken as an addition to its core pizza business.

Leadership Comment

Ian Bull, the company chair, commented: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and performance improvement in Domino's core business. We are focused on finding the right chief executive to direct the disciplined execution of that expansion plan.”

Market Difficulties

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said sales dipped by 1.5% in the Q3. In the summer, it alerted that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it attributed weaker consumer confidence in the run-up to the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in six-month income.

Rival chains are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut revealed the closure of 68 restaurants a recently, after the business behind its outlets fell into administration.

Health Efforts

Trying to keep up with customer preferences towards better nutrition, Domino's has launched lower-calorie products, such as its Thin & Crispy range of bakes below 400 calories as well as plant-based and allergy-friendly pizzas. A big pepperoni bake has over 2,300 kcal. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171, while a personal has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Leadership

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and previously worked for the gaming group William Hill. It is thought that she prefers not to assume the chief executive role on a full-time basis.

She commented: “The company has a multiple current expansion and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at speed.”

She said these comprised further work on the company's logistics network and product development, and its rewards program.

The pizza chain is also lacking a long-term CFO until the spring, when Andrea comes aboard from the beverage producer C&C Group. In the meantime, Snow acts as acting financial officer.