🔗 Share this article

A boss of Domino's Pizza Group who suggested the United Kingdom might have reached maximum pizza demand while diversifying the chain into poultry items has been replaced after disagreements with its directors.

Leadership Shake-Up

The former CEO is leaving after a brief tenure in the top role, and will be succeeded on an acting basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's searches for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who worked for Domino's for over 20 years, had aimed to shift Britain's biggest pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “significant expansion” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He observed poultry was the fastest-growing food category in the world.

Board Friction

Sources suggest that there was friction between Rennie and the governance team over his focus and management style, although the company's official statement said he was departing “by mutual agreement”.

Recent Product Launch

In the autumn, the chain launched its poultry brand – which Rennie described as a “significant new phase” for the group – and is trialling it in 210 outlets in the north-west of England and the province.

While the business is still planning to expand it across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as scheduled, it considers chicken products as a supplement for its main pizza offerings.

Leadership Comment

Ian Bull, the Domino's chair, stated: “We are confident that there are a series of prospects to boost expansion and performance improvement in Domino's core business. We are prioritizing identifying the ideal CEO to direct the disciplined execution of that growth strategy.”

Industry Challenges

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said orders declined by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In August, it warned that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the period before the government announcement and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in half-year profits.

Rival chains are also struggling. Another major chain revealed the closure of dozens of outlets a recently, after the business behind its UK venues faced financial collapse.

Wellness Efforts

Trying to keep up with market shifts towards healthier eating, the company has rolled out lower-calorie products, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 kcals as well as vegan and allergy-friendly pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 kcals. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171, while a individual has 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and was formerly with the betting firm a well-known operator. It is believed that she is not seeking to assume the CEO position permanently.

She said: “The company has a number of current expansion and operational projects that we will be focused on carrying out at speed.”

She said these involved additional efforts on the organization's logistics network and new item creation, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also without a full-time finance director until the spring, when a new appointee starts from the beverage producer C&C Group. For now, Richard Snow acts as temporary CFO.