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A boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the UK might have reached peak pizza while broadening the company into chicken products has been ousted after conflicts with its board.

Executive Transition

Rennie is departing after just two years in leadership, and will be succeeded 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 a substantial period, had aimed to redirect Britain's leading pizza food delivery firm towards fried chicken, commenting in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the British pizza industry. He noted chicken was the fastest-growing protein in the world.

Board Friction

It is understood that there was disagreement between Rennie and the governance team over his focus and business vision, although Domino's release said he was stepping down “as a joint decision”.

Recent Product Launch

In September, Domino's launched its poultry offering – which the former chief referred to as a “bold new chapter” for the company – and is trialling it in select stores in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still planning to expand it across its almost 1,400 stores in the coming year as intended, it views chicken products as a supplement for its main pizza offerings.

Leadership Comment

Bull, the company chairman, commented: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to boost expansion and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are concentrating on identifying the suitable leader to direct the disciplined execution of that development approach.”

Market Challenges

In the latest update, Domino's, which has a substantial customer base in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by one and a half percent in the latest quarter. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “grown more challenging” as it blamed reduced spending in the run-up to the government announcement and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in interim earnings.

Other pizza operators are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut disclosed the closing of dozens of outlets a last month, after the business behind its outlets entered insolvency.

Wellness Efforts

Responding to customer preferences towards balanced diets, Domino's has rolled out reduced-calorie products, such as its Thin & Crispy selection of pizzas below 400 calories as well as meat-free and allergy-friendly options. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories. A family cheese pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a small has 909 kcal.

Acting Leadership

The interim chief has been with the company since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm a well-known operator. It is thought that she prefers not to occupy the CEO position on a full-time basis.

She commented: “We have a number of active expansion and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at a rapid rate.”

She said these included further work on the company's supply chain and menu innovation, and its loyalty scheme.

Domino's is also without a long-term chief financial officer until 16 March, when Andy Andrea joins from the drinks company C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow acts as temporary CFO.