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

Leadership Transition

The former CEO is departing after only 24 months in leadership, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a new leader.

Rennie, who was with the company for over 20 years, had attempted to redirect Britain's biggest pizza takeaway chain towards chicken offerings, stating earlier this month there was not “significant expansion” left in the UK's pizza market. He noted chicken was the most rapidly expanding food category in the international market.

Governance Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was tension between Rennie and the governance team over his focus and direction, although the company's official statement said he was stepping down “through mutual consent”.

New Product Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its poultry offering – which the former chief described as a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is trialling it in over 200 locations in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the business is still going to roll it out across its extensive network in 2026 as planned, it regards chicken products as complementary to its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Comment

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chairman, commented: “Directors think that there are a series of prospects to enhance value and value creation in Domino's core business. We are prioritizing selecting the ideal CEO to oversee the disciplined execution of that development approach.”

Market Challenges

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has millions of users in the UK and Ireland, said orders declined by 1.5 percent in the latest quarter. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it blamed reduced spending in the run-up to the government announcement and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Other pizza operators are also facing challenges. Another major chain revealed the closure of 68 restaurants a recently, after the business behind its British operations faced financial collapse.

Health Efforts

Responding to customer preferences towards healthier eating, the company has introduced reduced-calorie items, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 calories as well as vegan and gluten-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A big margherita has 2,171, while a individual has 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

The interim chief has been with Domino's since 2021, and had a background at the betting firm William Hill. It is believed that she is not seeking to assume the CEO position permanently.

She commented: “The company has a multiple ongoing development and operational projects that we will be dedicated to implementing at pace.”

She said these included ongoing development on the company's procurement system and product development, and its rewards program.

The pizza chain is also without a long-term CFO until 16 March, when a new appointee starts from the drinks company C&C Group. For now, Snow is acting financial officer.