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The head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who proposed the UK might have hit maximum pizza demand while expanding the company into poultry items has been replaced after disagreements with its board.

Executive Shake-Up

The former CEO is departing after a brief tenure in charge, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the company's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant searches for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who was with Domino's for over 20 years, had sought to pivot the UK's leading pizza food delivery firm towards fried chicken, remarking earlier this month there was not “huge potential” left in the British pizza industry. He observed poultry was the quickest rising menu item in the world.

Board Tensions

Reports indicate that there was friction between the CEO and the governance team over his approach and management style, although the company's release said he was departing “as a joint decision”.

Recent Product Launch

In September, the chain launched its chicken-focused product line – which Rennie referred to as a “significant new phase” for the group – and is trialling it in 210 outlets in the North West region and the province.

While the business is still planning to expand it across its almost 1,400 stores in the coming year as planned, it regards chicken products as complementary to its core pizza business.

Board Statement

The Domino's chair, the Domino's chair, said: “We are confident that there are a series of prospects to enhance value and value creation in Domino's core business. We are prioritizing finding the ideal CEO to lead the careful implementation of that development approach.”

Industry Difficulties

In the latest update, the pizza delivery giant, which has millions of users in the British Isles, said transactions declined by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In August, it cautioned that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it attributed weaker consumer confidence in the period before the government announcement and rising wage costs for below-target performance and a 15% drop in interim earnings.

Rival chains are also struggling. Pizza Hut announced the closure of 68 restaurants a recently, after the firm behind its outlets fell into administration.

Health Initiatives

Trying to keep up with market shifts towards better nutrition, the company has introduced reduced-calorie products, such as its thin-crust selection of bakes below 400 calories as well as meat-free and allergy-friendly pizzas. A large pepperoni pizza has over 2,300 kcal. A family cheese pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a personal has 909 kcal.

Interim Leadership

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and had a background at the gaming group William Hill. It is understood that she does not want to take on the top job on a full-time basis.

She commented: “Our team has a number of active development and performance initiatives that we will be concentrating on implementing at pace.”

Frampton noted these comprised further work on the company's procurement system and product development, and its customer retention initiative.

Domino's is also lacking a long-term CFO until March 16, when Andy Andrea starts from the beverage producer C&C Group. Until then, Snow acts as temporary CFO.