🔗 Share this article

The chief executive of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who proposed the UK might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the chain into fried chicken has been removed after disagreements with its governing body.

Leadership Transition

Andrew Rennie is departing after only 24 months in the top role, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the organization's operations head, Frampton, while Domino's searches for a new leader.

Rennie, who was with the company for more than two decades, had sought to shift the UK's leading pizza delivery company towards chicken offerings, stating in a recent interview there was not “huge potential” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He said poultry was the fastest-growing protein in the globe.

Board Friction

Reports indicate that there was tension between Rennie and the governance team over his strategy and management style, although Domino's announcement said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

Recent Brand Launch

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its poultry brand – which the former chief described as a “major strategic shift” for the organization – and is trialling it in select stores in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still intending to launch it across its nearly 1,400 branches in 2026 as planned, it views chicken products as a supplement for its core pizza business.

Board Comment

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chairman, commented: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are concentrating on selecting the ideal CEO to oversee the careful implementation of that expansion plan.”

Industry Challenges

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has a substantial customer base in the British Isles, said transactions declined by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In August, it alerted that the takeaway market had “grown more challenging” as it blamed weaker consumer confidence in the period before the budget and increasing labor expenses for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15% drop in six-month income.

Rival chains are also struggling. Another major chain revealed the closure of dozens of outlets a month ago, after the company behind its British operations faced financial collapse.

Wellness Initiatives

Adapting to consumer trends towards better nutrition, the company has introduced lower-calorie items, such as its thin-crust range of bakes below 400 kcals as well as meat-free and allergy-friendly pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 kcals. A big margherita has 2,171, while a individual has under 1,000 calories.

Acting Leadership

Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and was formerly with the gaming group a well-known operator. It is understood that she prefers not to assume the CEO position long-term.

She commented: “We have a several current development and performance initiatives that we will be focused on carrying out at a rapid rate.”

She added these comprised additional efforts on the company's logistics network and product development, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also in need of a permanent chief financial officer until the spring, when Andy Andrea starts from the beverage producer C&C Group. In the meantime, Richard Snow acts as temporary CFO.