🔗 Share this article

A boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who suggested the UK might have reached pizza saturation while expanding the company into fried chicken has been replaced after tensions with its governing body.

Leadership Change

Rennie is leaving after only 24 months in the top role, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the company's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant searches for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who worked for Domino's for a substantial period, had aimed to pivot Britain's largest pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He observed poultry was the most rapidly expanding menu item in the globe.

Board Disagreements

Reports indicate that there was disagreement between Rennie and the board over his strategy and business vision, although the company's announcement said he was departing “through mutual consent”.

Recent Product Launch

In the autumn, the chain unveiled its poultry brand – which Rennie called a “significant new phase” for the organization – and is piloting it in 210 outlets in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its extensive network in 2026 as scheduled, it views fried chicken as an addition to its core pizza business.

Board Comment

Ian Bull, the Domino's chair, said: “The board believes that there are a range of possibilities to enhance value and value creation in our primary operations. We are prioritizing finding the right chief executive to direct the systematic rollout of that expansion plan.”

Industry Challenges

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by one and a half percent in the latest quarter. In the summer, it cautioned that the quick-service industry had “become tougher” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the run-up to the budget and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in six-month income.

Rival chains are also experiencing difficulties. Pizza Hut announced the closure of multiple locations a recently, after the business behind its outlets faced financial collapse.

Health Efforts

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards better nutrition, Domino's has introduced reduced-calorie products, such as its light base range of bakes below 400 calories as well as vegan and wheat-free pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories. A big margherita has 2,171 kcal, while a individual has 909 calories.

Acting Management

The interim chief has been with Domino's since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm William Hill. It is believed that she does not want to assume the chief executive role permanently.

She said: “We have a multiple active growth and performance initiatives that we will be concentrating on executing at a rapid rate.”

She added these included additional efforts on the company's supply chain and product development, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also lacking a long-term finance director until the spring, when a new appointee comes aboard from the drinks company a well-known firm. In the meantime, Snow serves as interim finance chief.