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A chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group who suggested the United Kingdom might have hit pizza saturation while expanding the franchise into chicken products has been removed after tensions with its governing body.

Leadership Shake-Up

Andrew Rennie is exiting after a brief tenure in the top role, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the organization's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's searches for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who served at the company for more than two decades, had attempted to shift Britain's largest pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, stating in a recent interview there was not “huge potential” left in the UK's pizza market. He observed chicken was the quickest rising menu item in the world.

Governance Friction

Sources suggest that there was friction between the CEO and the directors over his approach and direction, although Domino's release said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”.

New Brand Launch

In the autumn, Domino's unveiled its chicken-focused brand – which the former chief referred to as a “bold new chapter” for the group – and is piloting it in select stores in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores in the coming year as planned, it views chicken products as a supplement for its main pizza offerings.

Board Comment

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chairman, said: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to boost expansion and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are prioritizing selecting the right chief executive to lead the disciplined execution of that development approach.”

Industry Challenges

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions dipped by one and a half percent in the third quarter. In the summer, it alerted that the takeaway market had “become tougher” as it attributed reduced spending in the run-up to the budget and increasing labor expenses for below-target performance and a 15% drop in half-year profits.

Rival chains are also struggling. Another major chain revealed the closing of 68 restaurants a last month, after the firm behind its British operations fell into administration.

Health Efforts

Adapting to market shifts towards balanced diets, the company has launched lower-calorie items, such as its Thin & Crispy line of pizzas below 400 kcals as well as meat-free and gluten-free options. A big pepperoni bake has over 2,300 kcal. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a personal has 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and previously worked for the betting firm William Hill. It is thought that she is not seeking to assume the CEO position long-term.

Frampton stated: “We have a number of current development and performance initiatives that we will be dedicated to executing at a rapid rate.”

Frampton noted these comprised additional efforts on the company's logistics network and menu innovation, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also in need of a permanent finance director until the spring, when a new appointee starts from the drinks company C&C Group. For now, Snow acts as interim finance chief.