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The head of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who proposed the United Kingdom might have hit maximum pizza demand while diversifying the chain into fried chicken has been removed after tensions with its directors.

Executive Shake-Up

The former CEO is exiting after only 24 months in charge, and will be succeeded on an temporary basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant searches for a new leader.

Rennie, who worked for the company for over 20 years, had sought to redirect the UK's biggest pizza takeaway chain towards poultry-based products, commenting recently there was not “massive growth” left in the British pizza industry. He said poultry was the most rapidly expanding food category in the globe.

Board Tensions

Sources suggest that there was disagreement between the CEO and the board over his focus and direction, although Domino's announcement said he was leaving “through mutual consent”.

Recent Product Launch

In September, Domino's unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip offering – which Rennie referred to as a “significant new phase” for the group – and is trialling it in 210 outlets in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches in the coming year as intended, it regards fried chicken as a supplement for its core pizza business.

Board Comment

Ian Bull, the company chairman, commented: “Directors think that there are a series of prospects to drive further growth and profitability in the main pizza segment. We are focused on finding the suitable leader to direct the disciplined execution of that expansion plan.”

Market Difficulties

In the latest update, Domino's, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said orders fell by one and a half percent in the Q3. In August, it warned that the quick-service industry had “become tougher” as it blamed weaker consumer confidence in the lead-up to the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for below-target performance and a significant fall in interim earnings.

Other pizza operators are also struggling. Pizza Hut revealed the closing of dozens of outlets a last month, after the firm behind its outlets faced financial collapse.

Health Efforts

Adapting to market shifts towards better nutrition, the company has rolled out lower-calorie items, such as its light base range of pizzas below 400 calories as well as meat-free and wheat-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A big margherita has over 2,100, while a individual has 909 calories.

Interim Management

Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and previously worked for the betting firm a well-known operator. It is understood that she does not want to take on the CEO position permanently.

She commented: “The company has a several active development and performance initiatives that we will be focused on carrying out at a rapid rate.”

She added these included additional efforts on the organization's supply chain and new item creation, and its loyalty scheme.

The pizza chain is also in need of a long-term chief financial officer until the spring, when Andrea joins from the beverage producer a well-known firm. In the meantime, Snow acts as acting financial officer.