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The head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who proposed the UK might have hit maximum pizza demand while expanding the company into poultry items has been removed after disagreements with its directors.

Executive Transition

Andrew Rennie is departing after a brief tenure in charge, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the organization's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's looks for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who served at the company for more than two decades, had attempted to shift Britain's leading pizza takeaway chain towards poultry-based products, commenting earlier this month there was not “huge potential” left in the UK's pizza market. He observed poultry was the fastest-growing protein in the international market.

Board Disagreements

Reports indicate that there was friction between Rennie and the board over his focus and direction, although Domino's release said he was leaving “as a joint decision”.

Recent Brand Launch

In September, Domino's launched its poultry product line – which Rennie referred to as a “major strategic shift” for the organization – and is testing it in select stores in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as scheduled, it considers chicken products as complementary to its core pizza business.

Leadership Comment

Bull, the Domino's chair, stated: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and profitability in Domino's core business. We are prioritizing selecting the suitable leader to oversee the careful implementation of that expansion plan.”

Market Difficulties

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5% in the Q3. In the summer, it cautioned that the food delivery sector had “grown more challenging” as it attributed economic uncertainty in the run-up to the budget and higher payroll outlays for weaker-than-expected sales and a significant fall in interim earnings.

Rival chains are also struggling. Another major chain disclosed the closing of dozens of outlets a last month, after the company behind its British operations fell into administration.

Wellness Initiatives

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards healthier eating, Domino's has introduced reduced-calorie options, such as its light base range of bakes below 400 calories as well as plant-based and allergy-friendly pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171, while a personal has 909 kcal.

Acting Management

Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm a well-known operator. It is thought that she is not seeking to occupy the chief executive role on a full-time basis.

She said: “We have a number of ongoing expansion and performance initiatives that we will be concentrating on implementing at speed.”

She said these involved ongoing development on the organization's procurement system and menu innovation, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also lacking a long-term finance director until the spring, when Andy Andrea comes aboard from the Irish cider and beer maker a well-known firm. Until then, Snow serves as interim finance chief.