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The boss of Domino's Pizza Group who indicated the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the franchise into chicken products has been replaced after disagreements with its board.

Executive Transition

Andrew Rennie is departing after just two years in the top role, and will be succeeded on an acting basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's searches for a long-term chief.

The outgoing executive, who was with the company for a substantial period, had sought to shift Britain's largest pizza delivery company towards fried chicken, commenting in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He observed chicken was the most rapidly expanding protein in the international market.

Board Tensions

Sources suggest that there was friction between the CEO and the governance team over his strategy and business vision, although the company's release said he was departing “by mutual agreement”.

New Brand Launch

In September, Domino's introduced its poultry offering – which the former chief described as a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is trialling it in select stores in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still planning to expand it across its extensive network next year as scheduled, it regards fried chicken as complementary to its primary pizza operations.

Board Comment

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chair, said: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to boost expansion and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are concentrating on selecting the ideal CEO to direct the disciplined execution of that expansion plan.”

Market Difficulties

Earlier this month, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said sales declined by 1.5% in the Q3. In the summer, it cautioned that the quick-service industry had “become tougher” as it attributed weaker consumer confidence in the run-up to the government announcement and rising wage costs for below-target performance and a significant fall in interim earnings.

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

Health Efforts

Trying to keep up with customer preferences towards healthier eating, Domino's has launched light items, such as its thin-crust range of bakes below 400 kcals as well as vegan and allergy-friendly pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has over 2,100, while a personal has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Management

The interim chief has been with the company since the recent past, and had a background at the gaming group a well-known operator. It is understood that she prefers not to occupy the CEO position on a full-time basis.

She said: “Our team has a several current expansion and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at a rapid rate.”

She said these comprised further work on the company's supply chain and menu innovation, and its loyalty scheme.

Domino's is also lacking a full-time chief financial officer until 16 March, when Andy Andrea comes aboard from the drinks company C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow is acting financial officer.