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A boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who suggested the UK might have hit maximum pizza demand while broadening the chain into fried chicken has been removed after tensions with its board.

Leadership Shake-Up

Rennie is leaving after just two years in the top role, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the company's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant searches for a long-term chief.

The outgoing executive, who was with the company for a substantial period, had attempted to pivot the UK's largest pizza takeaway chain towards fried chicken, commenting earlier this month there was not “significant expansion” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He noted poultry was the fastest-growing food category in the world.

Board Disagreements

It is understood that there was disagreement between the CEO and the governance team over his approach and management style, although Domino's official statement said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”.

New Product Launch

In the autumn, Domino's launched its poultry brand – which the former chief described as a “bold new chapter” for the company – and is testing it in over 200 locations in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores in the coming year as scheduled, it views chicken products as complementary to its main pizza offerings.

Leadership Statement

Ian Bull, the company chair, stated: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and performance improvement in Domino's core business. We are concentrating on finding the right chief executive to direct the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Industry Difficulties

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has millions of users in the UK and Ireland, said orders dipped by one and a half percent in the Q3. In the summer, it cautioned that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it attributed weaker consumer confidence in the lead-up to the budget and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in interim earnings.

Other pizza operators are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut announced the closing of 68 restaurants a recently, after the business behind its British operations entered insolvency.

Health Initiatives

Responding to customer preferences towards better nutrition, Domino's has launched lower-calorie products, such as its light base line of bakes below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and wheat-free options. A large pepperoni pizza has over 2,300 kcal. A family cheese pizza has 2,171, while a individual has 909 kcal.

Acting Leadership

Frampton has been with Domino's since 2021, and previously worked for the gambling company a well-known operator. It is believed that she is not seeking to occupy the chief executive role permanently.

Frampton stated: “Our team has a multiple active expansion and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at pace.”

She said these included additional efforts on the company's procurement system and product development, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also lacking a long-term CFO until the spring, when a new appointee starts from the drinks company C&C Group. For now, Snow is temporary CFO.