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The head of Domino's Pizza Group who indicated the United Kingdom might have reached peak pizza while expanding the franchise into poultry items has been ousted after disagreements with its directors.

Executive Transition

Andrew Rennie is departing after just two years in charge, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's looks for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who was with Domino's for more than two decades, had sought to redirect Britain's largest pizza food delivery firm towards poultry-based products, remarking in a recent interview there was not “significant expansion” left in the British pizza industry. He noted poultry was the fastest-growing menu item in the international market.

Governance Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was friction between the CEO and the governance team over his focus and business vision, although the company's release said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

New Product Introduction

In September, Domino's introduced its chicken-focused offering – which the former chief referred to as a “bold new chapter” for the organization – and is piloting it in over 200 locations in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still intending to launch it across its extensive network in the coming year as scheduled, it views fried chicken as an addition to its core pizza business.

Leadership Comment

The Domino's chair, the company chair, commented: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and value creation in the main pizza segment. We are focused on finding the right chief executive to direct the disciplined execution of that growth strategy.”

Market Difficulties

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the British Isles, said transactions declined by one and a half percent in the Q3. In August, it alerted that the takeaway market had “grown more challenging” as it attributed reduced spending in the period before the government announcement and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15% drop in half-year profits.

Competitors are also experiencing difficulties. Another major chain disclosed the closure of multiple locations a month ago, after the firm behind its outlets fell into administration.

Wellness Efforts

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards balanced diets, the company has introduced light options, such as its Thin & Crispy range of pizzas below 400 kcals as well as vegan and gluten-free options. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 calories. A family cheese pizza has 2,171, while a individual has 909 calories.

Acting Leadership

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 does not want to take on the CEO position on a full-time basis.

She said: “We have a multiple active development and performance initiatives that we will be focused on carrying out at pace.”

She said these involved ongoing development on the company's supply chain and menu innovation, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also lacking a long-term CFO until the spring, when Andrea comes aboard from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. In the meantime, Richard Snow acts as interim finance chief.