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A chief executive of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the United Kingdom might have hit peak pizza while expanding the company into fried chicken has been removed after tensions with its governing body.

Leadership Transition

The former CEO is exiting after only 24 months in charge, and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant seeks a long-term chief.

Rennie, who worked for Domino's for more than two decades, had sought to shift the UK's biggest pizza food delivery firm towards fried chicken, remarking earlier this month there was not “massive growth” left in the British pizza industry. He observed poultry was the most rapidly expanding protein in the globe.

Board Friction

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

New Brand Introduction

In the autumn, the chain launched its Chick 'N' Dip brand – which Rennie called a “bold new chapter” for the organization – and is testing it in select stores in the North West region and the province.

While the company is still intending to launch it across its almost 1,400 stores next year as planned, it views fried chicken as complementary to its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Comment

Bull, the company chair, commented: “We are confident that there are a series of prospects to drive further growth and value creation in the main pizza segment. We are focused on finding the right chief executive to lead the disciplined execution of that growth strategy.”

Industry Challenges

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has millions of users in the UK and Ireland, said transactions dipped by one and a half percent in the latest quarter. In August, it alerted that the takeaway market had “become tougher” as it attributed weaker consumer confidence in the lead-up to the budget and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in interim earnings.

Competitors are also struggling. Pizza Hut disclosed the closing of 68 restaurants a recently, after the firm behind its UK venues entered insolvency.

Wellness Initiatives

Responding to market shifts towards healthier eating, the company has rolled out reduced-calorie options, such as its thin-crust selection of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and gluten-free options. A big pepperoni bake has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a personal has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Management

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since the recent past, and had a background at the gaming group a well-known operator. It is understood that she prefers not to take on the CEO position permanently.

She commented: “Our team has a multiple ongoing growth and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at pace.”

She added these included ongoing development on the company's procurement system and menu innovation, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also in need of a permanent chief financial officer until March 16, when a new appointee joins from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. Until then, Snow serves as interim finance chief.