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A chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group who suggested the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the chain into poultry items has been replaced after tensions with its directors.

Executive Change

Rennie is departing after just two years in the top role, and will be replaced on an acting basis by the company's chief operating officer, Frampton, while Domino's searches for a permanent CEO.

Rennie, who served at Domino's for more than two decades, had sought to shift the UK's largest pizza delivery company towards chicken offerings, remarking earlier this month there was not “huge potential” left in the UK's pizza market. He noted poultry was the quickest rising food category in the international market.

Governance Friction

Sources suggest that there was tension between Rennie and the board over his strategy and direction, although Domino's official statement said he was leaving “through mutual consent”.

Recent Brand Launch

In September, the chain unveiled its chicken-focused product line – which the former chief called a “significant new phase” for the organization – and is testing it in select stores in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still planning to expand it across its almost 1,400 stores in 2026 as planned, it views fried chicken as complementary to its core pizza business.

Leadership Comment

Ian Bull, the company chairman, commented: “Directors think that there are a series of prospects to boost expansion and value creation in our primary operations. We are concentrating on finding the right chief executive to lead the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Market Difficulties

Earlier this month, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the British Isles, said sales declined by 1.5 percent in the latest quarter. In the summer, it alerted that the takeaway market had “grown more challenging” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the period before the budget and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a 15% drop in six-month income.

Competitors are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the shutting of multiple locations a recently, after the business behind its British operations entered insolvency.

Health Initiatives

Trying to keep up with customer preferences towards better nutrition, Domino's has launched lower-calorie items, such as its light base selection of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and gluten-free pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has over 2,300 kcal. A large cheese and tomato pizza has over 2,100, while a personal has 909 kcal.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with the company since the recent past, and previously worked for the gaming group a well-known operator. It is understood that she is not seeking to take on the CEO position on a full-time basis.

Frampton stated: “The company has a number of active expansion and efficiency programs that we will be concentrating on carrying out at speed.”

She said these included additional efforts on the organization's supply chain and new item creation, and its rewards program.

Domino's is also lacking a long-term chief financial officer until March 16, when a new appointee joins from the beverage producer C&C Group. For now, Richard Snow serves as temporary CFO.