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The chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group who suggested the UK might have hit peak pizza while broadening the chain into chicken products has been ousted after tensions with its directors.

Leadership Transition

Rennie is departing after a brief tenure in leadership, and will be succeeded on an acting basis by the company's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a long-term chief.

Rennie, who served at Domino's for more than two decades, had attempted to pivot the UK's biggest pizza food delivery firm towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “significant expansion” left in the British pizza industry. He said chicken was the most rapidly expanding food category in the international market.

Governance Friction

It is understood that there was tension between the CEO and the directors over his focus and management style, although Domino's release said he was leaving “as a joint decision”.

New Brand Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its chicken-focused offering – which Rennie called a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is testing it in select stores in the North West region and the province.

While the company is still planning to expand it across its extensive network in 2026 as scheduled, it considers fried chicken as complementary to its main pizza offerings.

Board Statement

Ian Bull, the Domino's chairman, said: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are concentrating on identifying the ideal CEO to lead the systematic rollout of that expansion plan.”

Market Challenges

Earlier this month, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the British Isles, said transactions dipped by 1.5% in the third quarter. In the summer, it warned that the takeaway market had “grown more challenging” as it attributed reduced spending in the run-up to the budget and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in interim earnings.

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

Health Initiatives

Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards better nutrition, the company has introduced reduced-calorie products, such as its thin-crust line of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as plant-based and gluten-free options. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 kcals. A family cheese pizza has over 2,100, while a small has 909 calories.

Interim Leadership

The interim chief has been with the company since the recent past, and was formerly with the gambling company William Hill. It is thought that she prefers not to take on the top job on a full-time basis.

She commented: “We have a number of ongoing expansion and operational projects that we will be dedicated to carrying out at a rapid rate.”

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

The pizza chain is also in need of a full-time chief financial officer until March 16, when Andrea joins from the drinks company a well-known firm. Until then, Snow serves as acting financial officer.