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A chief executive of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the United Kingdom might have reached maximum pizza demand while diversifying the franchise into chicken products has been ousted after tensions with its directors.

Leadership Change

Rennie is departing after just two years in leadership, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's searches for a new leader.

Rennie, who worked for Domino's for over 20 years, had aimed to pivot Britain's biggest pizza takeaway chain towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He observed chicken was the quickest rising food category in the international market.

Board Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was disagreement between Rennie and the governance team over his approach and direction, although Domino's release said he was stepping down “as a joint decision”.

New Brand Launch

In the autumn, Domino's unveiled its chicken-focused brand – which Rennie described as a “major strategic shift” for the organization – and is piloting it in select stores in the North West region and the province.

While the firm is still planning to expand it across its extensive network in 2026 as planned, it regards fried chicken as complementary to its core pizza business.

Leadership Comment

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chairman, said: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and profitability in Domino's core business. We are prioritizing finding the suitable leader to oversee the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Market Challenges

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has a substantial customer base in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5 percent in the latest quarter. In August, it cautioned that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it attributed reduced spending in the period before the budget and rising wage costs for below-target performance and a significant fall in six-month income.

Competitors are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut disclosed the closing of multiple locations a last month, after the company behind its UK venues entered insolvency.

Health Efforts

Responding to customer preferences towards better nutrition, the company has rolled out light items, such as its light base line of bakes below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and allergy-friendly pizzas. A big pepperoni bake has 2,311 kcals. A big margherita has 2,171, while a personal has 909 calories.

Interim Management

Nicola Frampton has been with Domino's since 2021, and previously worked for the gaming group William Hill. It is believed that she is not seeking to assume the chief executive role long-term.

She said: “The company has a several current expansion and efficiency programs that we will be dedicated to implementing at pace.”

Frampton noted these comprised additional efforts on the company's procurement system and menu innovation, and its loyalty scheme.

The pizza chain is also lacking a permanent finance director until 16 March, when a new appointee starts from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow is interim finance chief.