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A boss of Domino's Pizza Group who indicated the United Kingdom might have hit maximum pizza demand while expanding the franchise into chicken products has been ousted after conflicts with its board.

Executive Shake-Up

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

The outgoing executive, who worked for the company for over 20 years, had attempted to pivot the UK's leading pizza delivery company towards fried chicken, stating recently there was not “massive growth” left in the British pizza industry. He said chicken was the fastest-growing menu item in the globe.

Governance Tensions

Reports indicate that there was disagreement between Rennie and the governance team over his focus and management style, although Domino's announcement said he was departing “by mutual agreement”.

New Brand Introduction

In September, Domino's introduced its Chick 'N' Dip brand – which Rennie described as a “major strategic shift” for the organization – and is trialling it in select stores in the north-west of England and the province.

While the firm is still intending to launch it across its almost 1,400 stores in the coming year as intended, it considers chicken products as complementary to its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Statement

Bull, the company chairman, commented: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to boost expansion and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are focused on selecting the suitable leader to lead the disciplined execution of that development approach.”

Market Difficulties

Earlier this month, the pizza delivery giant, which has millions of users in the British Isles, said orders fell by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it attributed economic uncertainty in the period before the budget and higher payroll outlays for below-target performance and a significant fall in six-month income.

Competitors are also facing challenges. Another major chain disclosed the closing of 68 restaurants a month ago, after the firm behind its British operations entered insolvency.

Health Efforts

Adapting to customer preferences towards balanced diets, the company has rolled out reduced-calorie products, such as its Thin & Crispy selection of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and gluten-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A family cheese pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a individual has 909 calories.

Acting Management

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and previously worked for the gambling company a well-known operator. It is believed that she does not want to assume the CEO position long-term.

She commented: “Our team has a multiple ongoing expansion and efficiency programs that we will be concentrating on carrying out at a rapid rate.”

She said these included additional efforts on the organization's logistics network and new item creation, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also without a permanent finance director until March 16, when Andrea joins from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. Until then, Snow serves as acting financial officer.