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A chief executive of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the UK might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the company into chicken products has been replaced after conflicts with its governing body.

Leadership Transition

Andrew Rennie is exiting after only 24 months in the top role, and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a long-term chief.

The outgoing executive, who served at the company for over 20 years, had attempted to shift Britain's leading pizza takeaway chain towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “significant expansion” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He said poultry was the fastest-growing food category in the world.

Board Tensions

Sources suggest that there was tension between Rennie and the board over his approach and direction, although the company's announcement said he was stepping down “as a joint decision”.

New Product Launch

In September, the chain launched its Chick 'N' Dip offering – which the former chief described as a “significant new phase” for the organization – and is testing it in select stores in the north-west of England and the province.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores in 2026 as planned, it considers chicken products as complementary to its core pizza business.

Board Comment

The Domino's chair, the company chairman, stated: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to boost expansion and profitability in the main pizza segment. We are concentrating on identifying the ideal CEO to lead the disciplined execution of that expansion plan.”

Market Difficulties

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has a substantial customer base in the British Isles, said transactions fell by one and a half percent in the Q3. In August, it alerted that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it blamed weaker consumer confidence in the period before the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in interim earnings.

Competitors are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the closure of 68 restaurants a recently, after the firm behind its UK venues fell into administration.

Health Initiatives

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards balanced diets, Domino's has launched light items, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 calories as well as plant-based and gluten-free options. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 kcals. A big margherita has 2,171 kcal, while a small has 909 kcal.

Interim Management

Nicola 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 prefers not to occupy the top job permanently.

She commented: “Our team has a multiple active growth and operational projects that we will be concentrating on executing at a rapid rate.”

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

Domino's is also without a long-term finance director until 16 March, when Andy Andrea starts from the Irish cider and beer maker a well-known firm. Until then, Richard Snow acts as interim finance chief.