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The head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the United Kingdom might have hit pizza saturation while diversifying the franchise into chicken products has been removed after tensions with its board.

Leadership Change

Andrew Rennie is exiting after a brief tenure in the top role, and will be replaced on an temporary basis by the organization's chief operating officer, Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a new leader.

Rennie, who worked for Domino's for over 20 years, had aimed to redirect Britain's leading pizza food delivery firm towards fried chicken, commenting earlier this month there was not “significant expansion” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He said chicken was the quickest rising menu item in the international market.

Governance Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was friction between the CEO and the board over his approach and business vision, although Domino's announcement said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

New Product Launch

In September, Domino's launched its poultry brand – which the former chief described as a “bold new chapter” for the company – and is piloting it in over 200 locations in the north-west of England and the province.

While the firm is still planning to expand it across its nearly 1,400 branches in 2026 as planned, it regards fried chicken as a supplement for its primary pizza operations.

Board Comment

Bull, the Domino's chairman, commented: “Directors think that there are a series of prospects to drive further growth and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are focused on finding the ideal CEO to direct the systematic rollout of that expansion plan.”

Industry Challenges

Recently, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5 percent in the Q3. In August, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “intensified” as it attributed reduced spending in the lead-up to the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in half-year profits.

Competitors are also facing challenges. Another major chain revealed the closing of 68 restaurants a recently, after the company behind its outlets faced financial collapse.

Health Initiatives

Responding to market shifts towards better nutrition, Domino's has introduced light options, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 kcals as well as vegan and gluten-free options. A big pepperoni bake has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a individual has 909 calories.

Acting Leadership

The interim chief has been with the company since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm William Hill. It is understood that she prefers not to assume the chief executive role on a full-time basis.

She said: “The company has a several ongoing expansion and operational projects that we will be dedicated to executing at pace.”

She said these included additional efforts on the company's procurement system and new item creation, and its loyalty scheme.

Domino's is also without a full-time chief financial officer until March 16, when Andrea joins from the drinks company a well-known firm. For now, Richard Snow acts as acting financial officer.