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A chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group who suggested the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the chain into chicken products has been replaced after disagreements with its board.

Leadership Change

Andrew Rennie is exiting after just two years in leadership, and will be replaced on an interim basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's searches for a new leader.

The outgoing executive, who worked for the company for a substantial period, had aimed to shift the UK's leading pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, commenting recently there was not “huge potential” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He said poultry was the most rapidly expanding protein in the world.

Board Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was tension between Rennie and the directors over his focus and management style, although Domino's announcement said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

New Product Launch

In the autumn, the chain introduced its poultry brand – which the former chief referred to as a “major strategic shift” for the organization – and is trialling it in over 200 locations in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as intended, it considers fried chicken as an addition to its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Comment

Ian Bull, the company chair, said: “Directors think that there are a range of possibilities to boost expansion and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are prioritizing identifying the ideal CEO to lead the careful implementation of that development approach.”

Market Difficulties

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has a substantial customer base in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5 percent in the third quarter. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it attributed reduced spending in the lead-up to the budget and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in six-month income.

Rival chains are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the shutting of dozens of outlets a recently, after the company behind its outlets fell into administration.

Health Efforts

Adapting to consumer trends towards healthier eating, Domino's has launched lower-calorie items, such as its Thin & Crispy range of pizzas below 400 kcals as well as meat-free and gluten-free options. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 calories. A big margherita has 2,171, while a personal has 909 kcal.

Acting Leadership

Frampton has been with the company since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm a well-known operator. It is believed that she prefers not to occupy the CEO position on a full-time basis.

She said: “We have a multiple active development and operational projects that we will be concentrating on carrying out at speed.”

She said these comprised further work on the company's supply chain and product development, and its rewards program.

The pizza chain is also lacking a full-time CFO until the spring, when Andy Andrea comes aboard from the drinks company C&C Group. Until then, Snow serves as interim finance chief.