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A boss of Domino's Pizza Group who proposed the UK might have reached peak pizza while broadening the company into chicken products has been ousted after tensions with its board.

Leadership Change

Rennie is exiting after only 24 months in charge, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the organization's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a permanent CEO.

Rennie, who served at the company for a substantial period, had sought to shift Britain's largest pizza takeaway chain towards fried chicken, remarking earlier this month there was not “significant expansion” left in the British pizza industry. He said chicken was the quickest rising menu item in the globe.

Board Disagreements

It is understood that there was disagreement between the CEO and the governance team over his focus and business vision, although the company's official statement said he was departing “by mutual agreement”.

New Product Introduction

In September, Domino's unveiled its poultry brand – which the former chief referred to as a “significant new phase” for the group – and is piloting it in select stores in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores next year as scheduled, it considers chicken products as a supplement for its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Comment

The Domino's chair, the company chair, commented: “Directors think that there are a range of possibilities to drive further growth and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are prioritizing selecting the suitable leader to lead the disciplined execution of that expansion plan.”

Market Challenges

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In the summer, it warned that the takeaway market had “become tougher” as it attributed economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for weaker-than-expected sales and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Other pizza operators are also experiencing difficulties. Pizza Hut revealed the shutting of 68 restaurants a last month, after the firm behind its British operations faced financial collapse.

Wellness Initiatives

Adapting to consumer trends towards better nutrition, Domino's has rolled out lower-calorie products, such as its light base range of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and gluten-free options. A big pepperoni bake has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has over 2,100, while a personal has 909 kcal.

Acting Management

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since the recent past, and was formerly with the betting firm a well-known operator. It is believed that she prefers not to assume the top job on a full-time basis.

She commented: “We have a number of current growth and efficiency programs that we will be dedicated to carrying out at pace.”

She added these included further work on the organization's logistics network and product development, and its rewards program.

The pizza chain is also in need of a permanent chief financial officer until 16 March, when Andrea joins from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow serves as acting financial officer.