🔗 Share this article

The boss of Domino's Pizza Group who proposed the UK might have reached peak pizza while expanding the franchise into poultry items has been ousted after tensions with its directors.

Leadership Change

The former CEO is departing after just two years in charge, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the organization's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a new leader.

Rennie, who was with Domino's for over 20 years, had attempted to redirect the UK's biggest pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, commenting recently there was not “huge potential” left in the British pizza industry. He observed chicken was the fastest-growing menu item in the world.

Governance Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was disagreement between the CEO and the board over his strategy and management style, although the company's release said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

Recent Product Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its chicken-focused brand – which Rennie referred to as a “bold new chapter” for the organization – and is piloting it in select stores in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores next year as planned, it regards fried chicken as an addition to its primary pizza operations.

Board Comment

Bull, the Domino's chairman, stated: “Directors think that there are a range of possibilities to drive further growth and performance improvement in Domino's core business. We are prioritizing finding the ideal CEO to lead the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Industry Challenges

Earlier this month, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said sales fell by 1.5% in the Q3. In the summer, it alerted that the quick-service industry had “become tougher” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the budget and increasing labor expenses for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in six-month income.

Other pizza operators are also experiencing difficulties. Pizza Hut announced the closure of 68 restaurants a last month, after the business behind its outlets entered insolvency.

Wellness Efforts

Trying to keep up with market shifts towards healthier eating, Domino's has introduced light products, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 calories as well as plant-based and gluten-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A big margherita has 2,171, while a small has 909 calories.

Acting Management

Frampton has been with Domino's since 2021, and had a background at the gambling company a well-known operator. It is believed that she does not want to take on the top job permanently.

She commented: “Our team has a number of ongoing growth and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at speed.”

She said these comprised further work on the company's procurement system and menu innovation, and its rewards program.

Domino's is also in need of a full-time CFO until the spring, when a new appointee joins from the drinks company C&C Group. For now, Richard Snow acts as temporary CFO.