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A chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group who indicated the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the franchise into poultry items has been removed after conflicts with its governing body.

Leadership Transition

Andrew Rennie is departing after just two years in leadership, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the company's chief operating officer, Frampton, while the pizza giant searches for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who served at the company for over 20 years, had attempted to pivot Britain's largest pizza food delivery firm towards poultry-based products, stating recently there was not “massive growth” left in the UK's pizza market. He observed poultry was the quickest rising menu item in the world.

Board Tensions

Sources suggest that there was disagreement between Rennie and the governance team over his strategy and direction, although the company's official statement said he was leaving “by mutual agreement”.

New Product Launch

In the autumn, the chain introduced its chicken-focused product line – which Rennie described as a “significant new phase” for the company – and is piloting it in 210 outlets in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still planning to expand it across its extensive network next year as scheduled, it considers chicken products as complementary to its main pizza offerings.

Board Statement

The Domino's chair, the company chair, said: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are concentrating on identifying the suitable leader to direct the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Industry Challenges

In the latest update, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions declined by 1.5 percent in the Q3. In the summer, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it attributed weaker consumer confidence in the lead-up to the budget and increasing labor expenses for below-target performance and a 15% drop in interim earnings.

Competitors are also struggling. Another major chain revealed the shutting of 68 restaurants a month ago, after the company behind its British operations entered insolvency.

Wellness Efforts

Adapting to consumer trends towards balanced diets, the company has launched light options, such as its thin-crust range of pizzas below 400 kcals as well as plant-based and wheat-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A family cheese pizza has over 2,100, while a personal has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm William Hill. It is thought that she does not want to take on the CEO position long-term.

Frampton stated: “The company has a several ongoing development and performance initiatives that we will be dedicated to implementing at pace.”

Frampton noted these involved additional efforts on the company's supply chain and menu innovation, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also without a long-term chief financial officer until March 16, when Andrea comes aboard from the beverage producer C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow is acting financial officer.