🔗 Share this article

A chief executive of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the United Kingdom might have hit peak pizza while broadening the chain into fried chicken has been removed after tensions with its board.

Leadership Transition

The former CEO is exiting after only 24 months in the top role, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the company's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant seeks a permanent CEO.

Rennie, who served at Domino's for over 20 years, had sought to redirect Britain's largest pizza takeaway chain towards chicken offerings, commenting recently there was not “huge potential” left in the British pizza industry. He said poultry was the quickest rising food category in the world.

Governance Friction

It is understood that there was friction between Rennie and the directors over his focus and direction, although Domino's announcement said he was stepping down “through mutual consent”.

New Brand Launch

In September, the chain unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip offering – which Rennie referred to as a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is trialling it in select stores in the North West region and the province.

While the business is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches in the coming year as planned, it views fried chicken as an addition to its main pizza offerings.

Board Statement

The Domino's chair, the company chairman, said: “We are confident that there are a range of possibilities to boost expansion and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are focused on finding the ideal CEO to direct the systematic rollout of that growth strategy.”

Market Challenges

In the latest update, the pizza delivery giant, which has millions of users in the UK and Ireland, said transactions dipped by 1.5 percent in the latest quarter. In the summer, it warned that the food delivery sector had “grown more challenging” as it blamed weaker consumer confidence in the lead-up to the budget and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in interim earnings.

Competitors are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut announced the closure of dozens of outlets a month ago, after the firm behind its British operations faced financial collapse.

Wellness Efforts

Responding to market shifts towards healthier eating, the company has rolled out lower-calorie options, such as its Thin & Crispy selection of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and wheat-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A big margherita has 2,171, while a individual has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Management

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since the recent past, and previously worked for the gambling company William Hill. It is believed that she does not want to take on the CEO position on a full-time basis.

She said: “The company has a number of ongoing growth and operational projects that we will be focused on executing at a rapid rate.”

Frampton noted these comprised ongoing development on the organization's supply chain and new item creation, and its rewards program.

Domino's is also in need of a full-time finance director until the spring, when Andy Andrea comes aboard from the drinks company C&C Group. In the meantime, Snow acts as temporary CFO.