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A head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the UK might have reached maximum pizza demand while expanding the franchise into poultry items has been ousted after tensions with its directors.

Leadership Change

Andrew Rennie is departing after only 24 months in the top role, and will be replaced on an acting basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant searches for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who was with Domino's for a substantial period, had sought to redirect the UK's leading pizza food delivery firm towards fried chicken, stating in a recent interview there was not “significant expansion” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He observed chicken was the most rapidly expanding protein in the international market.

Board Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was disagreement between Rennie and the directors over his approach and business vision, although the company's release said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

Recent Brand Launch

In the autumn, the chain introduced its chicken-focused offering – which the former chief described as a “bold new chapter” for the company – and is trialling it in over 200 locations in the north-west of England and the province.

While the firm is still planning to expand it across its nearly 1,400 branches in the coming year as scheduled, it considers chicken products as complementary to its core pizza business.

Board Comment

Ian Bull, the Domino's chairman, commented: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are prioritizing finding the right chief executive to direct the disciplined execution of that development approach.”

Market Challenges

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions declined by 1.5% in the Q3. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “intensified” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the budget and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in interim earnings.

Other pizza operators are also struggling. Another major chain announced the closure of multiple locations a recently, after the business behind its British operations fell into administration.

Wellness Initiatives

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards better nutrition, Domino's has rolled out light items, such as its thin-crust range of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as plant-based and allergy-friendly pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has over 2,100, while a individual has 909 kcal.

Acting Management

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since the recent past, and previously worked for the gaming group a well-known operator. It is understood that she prefers not to occupy the chief executive role permanently.

She said: “Our team has a multiple active growth and operational projects that we will be dedicated to executing at pace.”

She added these involved ongoing development on the company's procurement system and new item creation, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also in need of a long-term finance director until the spring, when a new appointee comes aboard from the drinks company C&C Group. In the meantime, Richard Snow acts as temporary CFO.