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The boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the UK might have hit maximum pizza demand while diversifying the chain into chicken products has been ousted after conflicts with its board.

Leadership Change

Rennie is departing after just two years in the top role, and will be replaced on an acting basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's looks for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who served at the company for more than two decades, had aimed to shift Britain's largest pizza food delivery firm towards poultry-based products, commenting recently there was not “significant expansion” left in the UK's pizza market. He said poultry was the fastest-growing food category in the international market.

Governance Friction

It is understood that there was tension between Rennie and the directors over his approach and direction, although the company's release said he was departing “through mutual consent”.

Recent Brand Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's launched its poultry brand – which the former chief described as a “significant new phase” for the group – and is trialling it in 210 outlets in the North West region and the province.

While the business is still planning to expand it across its nearly 1,400 branches in 2026 as scheduled, it regards fried chicken as an addition to its core pizza business.

Leadership Comment

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chair, said: “We are confident that there are a range of possibilities to enhance value and value creation in the main pizza segment. We are concentrating on finding the right chief executive to direct the careful implementation of that development approach.”

Industry Difficulties

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the British Isles, said orders declined by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In August, it warned that the quick-service industry had “grown more challenging” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the period before the budget and increasing labor expenses for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Other pizza operators are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut announced the shutting of 68 restaurants a recently, after the company behind its British operations faced financial collapse.

Health Initiatives

Responding to customer preferences towards better nutrition, Domino's has rolled out reduced-calorie options, such as its light base line of bakes below 400 kcal as well as plant-based and wheat-free options. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories. A big margherita has 2,171 kcal, while a individual has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Management

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and had a background at the betting firm a well-known operator. It is believed that she prefers not to assume the top job long-term.

She said: “The company has a multiple active expansion and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at a rapid rate.”

She added these included additional efforts on the organization's procurement system and new item creation, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also without a full-time chief financial officer until March 16, when Andy Andrea starts from the beverage producer a well-known firm. For now, Richard Snow acts as interim finance chief.