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The boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the UK might have reached peak pizza while broadening the chain into poultry items has been removed after disagreements with its directors.

Executive Transition

The former CEO is departing after a brief tenure in charge, and will be succeeded on an acting basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's looks for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who served at the company for more than two decades, had aimed to shift the UK's largest pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the UK's pizza market. He said poultry was the most rapidly expanding protein in the globe.

Governance Tensions

Sources suggest that there was disagreement between Rennie and the governance team over his approach and management style, although Domino's announcement said he was stepping down “through mutual consent”.

New Brand Introduction

In September, Domino's unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip product line – which Rennie described as a “major strategic shift” for the company – and is testing it in select stores in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the business is still intending to launch it across its extensive network in 2026 as planned, it regards fried chicken as an addition to its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Statement

Bull, the company chair, stated: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are prioritizing selecting the ideal CEO to direct the careful implementation of that growth strategy.”

Market Challenges

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said orders dipped by 1.5% in the Q3. In the summer, it alerted that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the run-up to the budget and rising wage costs for below-target performance and a 15 percent decline in interim earnings.

Other pizza operators are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the closing of multiple locations a recently, after the company behind its outlets fell into administration.

Health Initiatives

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards balanced diets, Domino's has rolled out light products, such as its light base selection of bakes below 400 kcal as well as plant-based and gluten-free options. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has over 2,100, while a personal has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Leadership

Nicola Frampton has been with Domino's since 2021, and previously worked for the gambling company a well-known operator. It is believed that she is not seeking to assume the top job permanently.

Frampton stated: “We have a several active growth and efficiency programs that we will be focused on implementing at a rapid rate.”

She added these comprised additional efforts on the organization's supply chain and product development, and its rewards program.

The pizza chain is also lacking a long-term finance director until March 16, when Andy Andrea starts from the Irish cider and beer maker a well-known firm. In the meantime, Snow is interim finance chief.