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A boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the United Kingdom might have reached maximum pizza demand while expanding the franchise into poultry items has been ousted after disagreements with its board.

Executive Change

Andrew Rennie is leaving after only 24 months in leadership, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who served at Domino's for a substantial period, had attempted to pivot the UK's leading pizza food delivery firm towards poultry-based products, stating in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the UK's pizza market. He observed chicken was the most rapidly expanding food category in the international market.

Governance Friction

Sources suggest that there was disagreement between the CEO and the governance team over his strategy and direction, although the company's official statement said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

Recent Brand Launch

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its poultry product line – which Rennie described 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 business is still intending to launch it across its almost 1,400 stores next year as intended, it considers fried chicken as complementary to its primary pizza operations.

Board Comment

Ian Bull, the Domino's chairman, stated: “Directors think that there are a series of prospects to boost expansion and value creation in Domino's core business. We are concentrating on selecting the right chief executive to oversee the disciplined execution of that growth strategy.”

Market Difficulties

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said sales dipped by one and a half percent in the latest quarter. In August, it warned that the food delivery sector had “grown more challenging” as it attributed reduced spending in the lead-up to the government announcement and rising wage costs for below-target performance and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Other pizza operators are also struggling. Pizza Hut disclosed the closure of 68 restaurants a month ago, after the business behind its UK venues faced financial collapse.

Health Initiatives

Responding to consumer trends towards healthier eating, the company has launched light options, such as its light base line of pizzas below 400 kcals as well as vegan and allergy-friendly options. A large pepperoni pizza has over 2,300 kcal. A family cheese pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a personal has 909 calories.

Interim Management

The interim chief has been with the company since 2021, and had a background at the gaming group a well-known operator. It is believed that she prefers not to take on the CEO position on a full-time basis.

Frampton stated: “We have a number of active growth and operational projects that we will be focused on executing at a rapid rate.”

She added these included additional efforts on the organization's procurement system and new item creation, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also without a permanent finance director until March 16, when a new appointee joins from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. Until then, Snow serves as temporary CFO.