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The boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while broadening the company into fried chicken has been removed after tensions with its board.

Leadership Shake-Up

The former CEO is leaving after a brief tenure in the top role, and will be succeeded on an acting basis by the organization's chief operating officer, Frampton, while the pizza giant seeks a permanent CEO.

Rennie, who was with Domino's for more than two decades, had attempted to pivot the UK's largest pizza takeaway chain towards fried chicken, commenting in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the UK's pizza market. He noted chicken was the fastest-growing menu item in the international market.

Governance Tensions

Reports indicate that there was friction between Rennie and the board over his strategy and direction, although the company's release said he was departing “through mutual consent”.

New Brand Introduction

In September, the chain unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip product line – which the former chief referred to as a “major strategic shift” for the organization – and is testing it in over 200 locations in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the business is still going to roll it out across its almost 1,400 stores in the coming year as planned, it regards chicken products as a supplement for its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Comment

Ian Bull, the company chair, said: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and value creation in our primary operations. We are concentrating on selecting the suitable leader to oversee the systematic rollout of that expansion plan.”

Industry Difficulties

Recently, Domino's, which has a substantial customer base in the UK and Ireland, said sales fell by 1.5% in the Q3. In the summer, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “become tougher” as it blamed weaker consumer confidence in the run-up to the government announcement and increasing labor expenses for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in six-month income.

Competitors are also facing challenges. Pizza Hut announced the closing of 68 restaurants a last month, after the company behind its outlets faced financial collapse.

Wellness Efforts

Trying to keep up with market shifts towards better nutrition, the company has introduced light options, such as its light base range of bakes below 400 kcal as well as vegan and wheat-free options. A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories. A family cheese pizza has over 2,100, while a small has 909 calories.

Interim Management

The interim chief has been with the company since the recent past, and was formerly with the betting firm a well-known operator. It is thought that she is not seeking to assume the CEO position permanently.

Frampton stated: “We have a multiple ongoing growth and efficiency programs that we will be concentrating on implementing at pace.”

She added these involved further work on the organization's procurement system and product development, and its loyalty scheme.

The pizza chain is also lacking a permanent CFO until March 16, when a new appointee comes aboard from the drinks company C&C Group. Until then, Snow serves as temporary CFO.