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A boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the United Kingdom might have hit maximum pizza demand while diversifying the franchise into poultry items has been replaced after disagreements with its directors.

Leadership Transition

Andrew Rennie is leaving after just two years in leadership, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the company's operations head, Frampton, while Domino's looks for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who was with Domino's for more than two decades, had aimed to redirect Britain's leading pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “significant expansion” left in the British pizza industry. He said poultry was the quickest rising menu item in the international market.

Governance Friction

Reports indicate that there was disagreement between Rennie and the directors over his focus and management style, although Domino's announcement said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”.

New Product Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its Chick 'N' Dip offering – which Rennie described as a “bold new chapter” for the organization – and is piloting it in 210 outlets in the North West region and the province.

While the business is still intending to launch it across its extensive network in 2026 as scheduled, it regards fried chicken as complementary to its core pizza business.

Leadership Statement

Ian Bull, the company chair, commented: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are focused on identifying the suitable leader to lead the disciplined execution of that development approach.”

Market Challenges

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In August, it cautioned that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it attributed economic uncertainty in the period before the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for below-target performance and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Other pizza operators are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut disclosed the closure of 68 restaurants a recently, after the business behind its UK venues entered insolvency.

Health Initiatives

Responding to customer preferences towards balanced diets, the company has introduced reduced-calorie products, such as its Thin & Crispy range of bakes below 400 calories as well as meat-free and gluten-free options. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171, while a small has 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and had a background at the gaming group William Hill. It is thought that she does not want to occupy the chief executive role on a full-time basis.

She said: “Our team has a number of current development and performance initiatives that we will be dedicated to implementing at pace.”

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

Domino's is also in need of a full-time CFO until 16 March, when a new appointee joins from the drinks company C&C Group. In the meantime, Richard Snow acts as temporary CFO.