🔗 Share this article

The head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who proposed the United Kingdom might have hit pizza saturation while broadening the company into poultry items has been removed after conflicts with its directors.

Leadership Transition

Rennie is leaving after a brief tenure in the top role, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the organization's operations head, Frampton, while Domino's seeks a long-term chief.

Rennie, who worked for Domino's for more than two decades, had aimed to pivot Britain's biggest pizza delivery company towards poultry-based products, stating in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the British pizza industry. He noted chicken was the quickest rising food category in the world.

Board Tensions

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

New Brand Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its poultry offering – which the former chief referred to as a “bold new chapter” for the organization – and is trialling it in select stores in the North West region and the province.

While the business is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as intended, it regards fried chicken as an addition to its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Statement

Bull, the company chair, stated: “We are confident that there are a series of prospects to drive further growth and profitability in Domino's core business. We are concentrating on finding the right chief executive to oversee the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Industry Challenges

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has a substantial customer base in the British Isles, said transactions fell by 1.5 percent in the Q3. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “grown more challenging” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the budget and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in interim earnings.

Rival chains are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the closure of 68 restaurants a last month, after the firm behind its British operations entered insolvency.

Wellness Efforts

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards healthier eating, the company has launched light products, such as its light base range of bakes below 400 kcals as well as meat-free and allergy-friendly options. A large pepperoni pizza has over 2,300 kcal. A large cheese and tomato pizza has over 2,100, while a individual has 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and had a background at the gambling company William Hill. It is believed that she is not seeking to take on the CEO position long-term.

She commented: “The company has a several current growth and operational projects that we will be dedicated to carrying out at pace.”

She added these involved ongoing development on the organization's logistics network and new item creation, and its loyalty scheme.

Domino's is also lacking a long-term CFO until the spring, when Andrea comes aboard from the drinks company C&C Group. In the meantime, Snow acts as temporary CFO.