The boss of Domino's Pizza Group who indicated the United Kingdom might have reached pizza saturation while diversifying the franchise into poultry items has been removed after conflicts with its directors.
Rennie is departing after only 24 months in the top role, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's looks for a permanent CEO.
The outgoing executive, who served at the company for over 20 years, had sought to redirect the UK's leading pizza takeaway chain towards poultry-based products, remarking earlier this month there was not “huge potential” left in the British pizza industry. He said chicken was the fastest-growing protein in the globe.
Reports indicate that there was tension between Rennie and the governance team over his approach and direction, although the company's announcement said he was leaving “through mutual consent”.
In the autumn, the chain unveiled its chicken-focused product line – which the former chief described as a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is piloting it in select stores in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.
While the firm is still intending to launch it across its almost 1,400 stores next year as planned, it regards chicken products as complementary to its core pizza business.
Ian Bull, the Domino's chair, commented: “We are confident that there are a series of prospects to enhance value and performance improvement in Domino's core business. We are prioritizing finding the right chief executive to oversee the systematic rollout of that development approach.”
In the latest update, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the British Isles, said sales declined by 1.5 percent in the third quarter. In August, it alerted that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it attributed economic uncertainty in the period before the government announcement and increasing labor expenses for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in half-year profits.
Competitors are also struggling. Pizza Hut revealed the shutting of dozens of outlets a month ago, after the business behind its UK venues fell into administration.
Trying to keep up with customer preferences towards better nutrition, the company has launched lower-calorie products, such as its light base range of bakes below 400 kcal as well as meat-free and allergy-friendly pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 kcals. A big margherita has over 2,100, while a small has under 1,000 calories.
Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and had a background at the gaming group a well-known operator. It is believed that she is not seeking to take on the chief executive role long-term.
Frampton stated: “Our team has a multiple ongoing expansion and efficiency programs that we will be focused on implementing at pace.”
She said these included further work on the company's supply chain and menu innovation, and its customer retention initiative.
The pizza chain is also lacking a full-time chief financial officer until 16 March, when Andrea joins from the Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group. For now, Snow is temporary CFO.
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