🔗 Share this article

The head of Domino's Pizza Group who suggested the United Kingdom might have reached maximum pizza demand while expanding the chain into chicken products has been ousted after conflicts with its directors.

Executive Transition

Andrew Rennie is leaving after just two years in leadership, and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's searches for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who served at Domino's for a substantial period, had sought to pivot the UK's largest pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, stating recently there was not “huge potential” left in the British pizza industry. He observed chicken was the quickest rising menu item in the globe.

Board Disagreements

It is understood that there was friction between Rennie and the board over his strategy and business vision, although Domino's announcement said he was leaving “through mutual consent”.

New Brand Launch

In September, Domino's unveiled its chicken-focused product line – which Rennie referred to as a “significant new phase” for the organization – and is trialling it in over 200 locations in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the business is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as scheduled, it views fried chicken as complementary to its primary pizza operations.

Board Comment

The Domino's chair, the company chair, said: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are concentrating on selecting the right chief executive to direct the careful implementation of that growth strategy.”

Industry Challenges

In the latest update, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the British Isles, said orders fell by 1.5 percent in the latest quarter. In August, it cautioned that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it blamed reduced spending in the period before the budget and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15% drop in interim earnings.

Rival chains are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut disclosed the shutting of 68 restaurants a last month, after the firm behind its outlets fell into administration.

Wellness Efforts

Adapting to market shifts towards balanced diets, the company has rolled out reduced-calorie items, such as its Thin & Crispy selection of bakes below 400 calories as well as plant-based and allergy-friendly pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has over 2,300 kcal. A big margherita has 2,171, while a small has 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with the company since the recent past, and was formerly with the gambling company a well-known operator. It is thought that she prefers not to occupy the top job long-term.

She said: “We have a several current development and operational projects that we will be focused on implementing at speed.”

She said these involved ongoing development on the company's logistics network and new item creation, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also lacking a permanent chief financial officer until 16 March, when Andy Andrea comes aboard from the drinks company C&C Group. For now, Richard Snow acts as interim finance chief.