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The chief executive of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the UK might have hit peak pizza while expanding the chain into poultry items has been removed after tensions with its directors.

Executive Change

The former CEO is departing after just two years in the top role, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's seeks a new leader.

Rennie, who worked for the company for a substantial period, had attempted to pivot the UK's leading pizza delivery company towards chicken offerings, stating recently there was not “massive growth” left in the British pizza industry. He observed poultry was the fastest-growing food category in the world.

Board Disagreements

It is understood that there was tension between the CEO and the directors over his focus and management style, although the company's official statement said he was departing “by mutual agreement”.

New Product Introduction

In September, Domino's introduced its chicken-focused product line – which Rennie referred to as a “significant new phase” for the organization – and is piloting it in select stores in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

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

Leadership Statement

Bull, the company chairman, commented: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and value creation in the main pizza segment. We are focused on finding the suitable leader to lead the systematic rollout of that expansion plan.”

Market Difficulties

In the latest update, Domino's, which has millions of users in the British Isles, said transactions dipped by 1.5 percent in the latest quarter. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the budget and increasing labor expenses for weaker-than-expected sales and a significant fall in interim earnings.

Other pizza operators are also struggling. Pizza Hut revealed the closing of 68 restaurants a recently, after the firm behind its British operations faced financial collapse.

Health Initiatives

Trying to keep up with customer preferences towards better nutrition, Domino's has launched light options, such as its light base range of pizzas below 400 kcals as well as vegan 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 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

The interim chief has been with Domino's since 2021, and previously worked for the gambling company William Hill. It is understood that she does not want to occupy the top job long-term.

Frampton stated: “We have a multiple active development and efficiency programs that we will be focused on implementing at pace.”

Frampton noted these comprised further work on the company's logistics network and new item creation, and its loyalty scheme.

The pizza chain is also without a full-time chief financial officer until March 16, when Andrea comes aboard from the drinks company a well-known firm. Until then, Snow serves as interim finance chief.