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A head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who suggested the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the company into poultry items has been removed after disagreements with its directors.

Leadership Change

Andrew Rennie is leaving after only 24 months in charge, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's searches for a permanent CEO.

Rennie, who worked for the company for over 20 years, had sought to pivot Britain's leading pizza delivery company towards chicken offerings, commenting earlier this month there was not “significant expansion” left in the British pizza industry. He said chicken was the fastest-growing protein in the world.

Governance Disagreements

Sources suggest that there was tension between the CEO and the board over his strategy and management style, although Domino's official statement said he was stepping down “as a joint decision”.

Recent Product Introduction

In the autumn, the chain unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip brand – which the former chief called a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is testing it in over 200 locations in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as scheduled, it views fried chicken as a supplement for its core pizza business.

Leadership Comment

Ian Bull, the company chairman, said: “We are confident that there are a range of possibilities to drive further growth and value creation in our primary operations. We are prioritizing selecting the ideal CEO to lead the careful implementation of that expansion plan.”

Industry Challenges

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has a substantial customer base in the UK and Ireland, said orders dipped by 1.5 percent in the third quarter. In the summer, it warned that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the period before the budget and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15 percent decline in six-month income.

Competitors are also experiencing difficulties. Pizza Hut announced the shutting of 68 restaurants a month ago, after the firm behind its outlets entered insolvency.

Health Efforts

Responding to market shifts towards better nutrition, Domino's has introduced light products, such as its light base selection of bakes below 400 kcals as well as vegan and allergy-friendly pizzas. A big pepperoni bake has over 2,300 kcal. A large cheese and tomato pizza has over 2,100, while a small has 909 kcal.

Acting Management

The interim chief 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 prefers not to take on the CEO position on a full-time basis.

Frampton stated: “We have a number of ongoing development and performance initiatives that we will be concentrating on carrying out at pace.”

She said these involved additional efforts on the company's procurement system and product development, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also without a full-time chief financial officer until March 16, when Andy Andrea comes aboard from the beverage producer C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow is temporary CFO.