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A head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who proposed the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while broadening the franchise into fried chicken has been removed after conflicts with its directors.

Leadership Shake-Up

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

Rennie, who was with Domino's for more than two decades, had attempted to shift the UK's biggest pizza food delivery firm towards fried chicken, commenting recently there was not “huge potential” left in the UK's pizza market. He observed poultry was the most rapidly expanding food category in the world.

Board Disagreements

Reports indicate that there was tension between Rennie and the governance team over his focus and management style, although Domino's release said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”.

Recent Brand Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's launched its poultry offering – which the former chief called a “significant new phase” for the group – and is piloting it in 210 outlets in the north-west of England and the province.

While the business is still going to roll it out across its extensive network in the coming year as scheduled, it considers fried chicken as complementary to its main pizza offerings.

Leadership Statement

Ian Bull, the Domino's chairman, said: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and value creation in Domino's core business. We are concentrating on selecting the suitable leader to lead the systematic rollout of that development approach.”

Market Difficulties

Earlier this month, the pizza delivery giant, which has a substantial customer base in the British Isles, said sales dipped by 1.5 percent in the Q3. In August, it warned that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it attributed economic uncertainty in the run-up to the budget and increasing labor expenses for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in interim earnings.

Competitors are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the closing of dozens of outlets a recently, after the company behind its British operations fell into administration.

Health Efforts

Adapting to customer preferences towards better nutrition, the company has launched reduced-calorie items, such as its thin-crust range of pizzas below 400 kcal as well as vegan and wheat-free pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 kcals. A big margherita has 2,171 kcal, while a individual has 909 kcal.

Acting Management

The interim chief has been with Domino's since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm William Hill. It is believed that she is not seeking to take on the top job long-term.

She commented: “We have a multiple active development and performance initiatives that we will be focused on implementing at a rapid rate.”

She said these involved further work on the organization's procurement system and menu innovation, and its loyalty scheme.

Domino's is also in need of a long-term chief financial officer until the spring, when Andy Andrea joins from the beverage producer C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow serves as acting financial officer.