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A head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who suggested the UK might have reached pizza saturation while expanding the company into fried chicken has been replaced after disagreements with its board.

Executive Transition

Andrew Rennie is exiting after a brief tenure in leadership, and will be succeeded on an acting basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's seeks a permanent CEO.

Rennie, who was with Domino's for a substantial period, had attempted to pivot the UK's leading pizza takeaway chain towards chicken offerings, commenting earlier this month there was not “huge potential” left in the UK's pizza market. He noted chicken was the most rapidly expanding menu item in the world.

Governance Tensions

It is understood that there was tension between Rennie and the directors over his approach and management style, although Domino's official statement said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”.

Recent Product Launch

In September, the chain launched its poultry product line – which Rennie called a “major strategic shift” for the organization – and is piloting it in over 200 locations in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still going to roll it out across its extensive network next year as intended, it views fried chicken as complementary to its main pizza offerings.

Leadership Statement

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chairman, said: “Directors think that there are a range of possibilities to drive further growth and profitability in our primary operations. We are concentrating on identifying the suitable leader to direct the disciplined execution of that growth strategy.”

Industry Challenges

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has millions of users in the British Isles, said transactions fell by 1.5 percent in the third quarter. In August, it warned that the takeaway market had “grown more challenging” as it attributed weaker consumer confidence in the run-up to the government announcement and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a 15% drop in interim earnings.

Rival chains are also experiencing difficulties. Another major chain disclosed the closure of dozens of outlets a recently, after the business behind its outlets fell into administration.

Health Efforts

Responding to consumer trends towards better nutrition, Domino's has rolled out light options, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 calories as well as meat-free and wheat-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 kcals. A family cheese pizza has over 2,100, while a individual has 909 kcal.

Interim Leadership

The interim chief has been with Domino's since the recent past, and had a background at the betting firm William Hill. It is thought that she prefers not to take on the top job on a full-time basis.

Frampton stated: “Our team has a number of ongoing development and performance initiatives that we will be dedicated to implementing at pace.”

Frampton noted these included ongoing development on the company's procurement system and new item creation, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also in need of a full-time CFO until 16 March, when Andrea joins from the drinks company a well-known firm. Until then, Snow is acting financial officer.