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

Leadership Shake-Up

The former CEO is leaving after a brief tenure in leadership, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the organization's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a new leader.

Rennie, who was with Domino's for more than two decades, had attempted to shift Britain's largest pizza delivery company towards chicken offerings, commenting recently there was not “huge potential” left in the UK's pizza market. He said chicken was the most rapidly expanding protein in the world.

Governance Friction

Sources suggest that there was friction between Rennie and the directors over his strategy and direction, although Domino's announcement said he was stepping down “as a joint decision”.

New Product Introduction

In September, Domino's launched its poultry offering – which Rennie referred to as a “significant new phase” for the company – and is testing it in select stores in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still planning to expand it across its almost 1,400 stores in 2026 as planned, it considers fried chicken as an addition to its main pizza offerings.

Leadership Comment

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chairman, stated: “We are confident that there are a series of prospects to drive further growth and value creation in the main pizza segment. We are prioritizing selecting the suitable leader to lead the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Industry Difficulties

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said orders declined by 1.5 percent in the third quarter. In August, it warned that the quick-service industry had “become tougher” as it blamed reduced spending in the period before the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in interim earnings.

Rival chains are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut disclosed the closure of dozens of outlets a last month, after the business behind its UK venues fell into administration.

Wellness Efforts

Adapting to market shifts towards better nutrition, the company has rolled out lower-calorie items, such as its light base selection of bakes below 400 calories as well as plant-based and allergy-friendly pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A big margherita has over 2,100, while a personal has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Leadership

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and was formerly with the gambling company a well-known operator. It is understood that she prefers not to occupy the CEO position long-term.

She commented: “Our team has a multiple current growth and performance initiatives that we will be concentrating on executing at pace.”

Frampton noted these involved ongoing development on the organization's logistics network and menu innovation, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also without a permanent CFO until March 16, when Andrea comes aboard from the beverage producer C&C Group. For now, Snow is temporary CFO.