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The chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group who indicated the UK might have hit maximum pizza demand while diversifying the company into poultry items has been removed after disagreements with its directors.

Leadership Shake-Up

Rennie is leaving after a brief tenure in leadership, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the company's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant seeks a long-term chief.

Rennie, who served at the company for more than two decades, had aimed to shift Britain's largest pizza delivery company towards poultry-based products, commenting earlier this month there was not “significant expansion” left in the UK's pizza market. He noted chicken was the fastest-growing protein in the world.

Governance Friction

Reports indicate that there was tension between Rennie and the directors over his focus and business vision, although Domino's release said he was stepping down “through mutual consent”.

Recent Brand Launch

In the autumn, the chain unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip offering – which Rennie called a “major strategic shift” for the company – and is piloting it in 210 outlets in the North West region and the province.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores in the coming year as scheduled, it views fried chicken as an addition to its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Comment

Bull, the Domino's chairman, commented: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are focused on identifying the suitable leader to oversee the systematic rollout of that expansion plan.”

Industry Challenges

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions dipped by 1.5% in the Q3. In the summer, it warned that the takeaway market had “become tougher” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the budget and increasing labor expenses for weaker-than-expected sales and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Rival chains are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the closure of multiple locations a recently, after the company behind its outlets entered insolvency.

Wellness Efforts

Adapting to customer preferences towards better nutrition, the company has rolled out lower-calorie options, such as its thin-crust selection of pizzas below 400 calories 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 personal has 909 calories.

Acting Leadership

Nicola Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and was formerly with the gaming group William Hill. It is believed that she does not want to occupy the top job long-term.

She commented: “The company has a several current development and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at speed.”

Frampton noted these included additional efforts on the organization's supply chain and product development, and its rewards program.

The pizza chain is also in need of a long-term chief financial officer until 16 March, when Andrea starts from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. In the meantime, Richard Snow acts as temporary CFO.