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The head of Domino's Pizza Group who suggested the UK might have hit peak pizza while expanding the franchise into poultry items has been removed after disagreements with its directors.

Leadership Shake-Up

Rennie is leaving after just two years in leadership, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the company's operations head, Frampton, while the pizza giant looks for a new leader.

Rennie, who served at the company for a substantial period, had aimed to shift Britain's leading pizza takeaway chain towards fried chicken, commenting earlier this month there was not “massive growth” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He noted poultry was the quickest rising protein in the globe.

Board Tensions

Reports indicate that there was friction between Rennie and the board over his focus and business vision, although Domino's release said he was departing “by mutual agreement”.

New Brand Introduction

In September, the chain unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip brand – which the former chief referred to as a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is testing it in select stores in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its extensive network in the coming year as intended, it considers fried chicken as a supplement for its primary pizza operations.

Leadership Statement

The Domino's chair, the company chair, stated: “We are confident that there are a range of possibilities to boost expansion and performance improvement in our primary operations. We are concentrating on selecting the ideal CEO to direct the disciplined execution of that expansion plan.”

Industry Challenges

In the latest update, Domino's, which has a substantial customer base in the British Isles, said transactions declined by 1.5% in the third quarter. In August, it warned that the takeaway market had “become tougher” as it blamed weaker consumer confidence in the run-up to the budget and rising wage costs for disappointing revenue and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Rival chains are also struggling. Another major chain announced the closing of dozens of outlets a month ago, after the firm behind its outlets entered insolvency.

Health Efforts

Responding to market shifts towards better nutrition, Domino's has rolled out light items, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 kcal as well as vegan and gluten-free options. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 kcals. A big margherita has 2,171, while a individual has 909 kcal.

Interim Leadership

The interim chief has been with the company since the recent past, and was formerly with the gaming group a well-known operator. It is thought that she prefers not to occupy the chief executive role permanently.

She commented: “The company has a number of active expansion and operational projects that we will be concentrating on carrying out at pace.”

Frampton noted these included further work on the company's supply chain and product development, and its customer retention initiative.

The pizza chain is also without a long-term chief financial officer until the spring, when Andrea joins from the drinks company C&C Group. Until then, Richard Snow is temporary CFO.