🔗 Share this article

The boss of the UK's Domino's Pizza chain who indicated the UK might have reached maximum pizza demand while diversifying the franchise into chicken products has been ousted after tensions with its directors.

Leadership Change

The former CEO is exiting after just two years in charge, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the company's chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while the pizza giant searches for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who worked for the company for over 20 years, had sought to shift Britain's largest pizza takeaway chain towards chicken offerings, commenting in a recent interview there was not “massive growth” left in the pizza sector in the UK. He noted poultry was the most rapidly expanding protein in the world.

Board Friction

Sources suggest that there was friction between the CEO and the governance team over his approach and direction, although Domino's official statement said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”.

Recent Brand Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's introduced its chicken-focused product line – which Rennie referred to as a “bold new chapter” for the organization – and is trialling it in select stores in the North West region and the province.

While the company is still going to roll it out across its extensive network in 2026 as intended, it views chicken products as a supplement for its main pizza offerings.

Board Comment

Bull, the company chairman, commented: “Directors think that there are a number of opportunities to boost expansion and performance improvement in the main pizza segment. We are prioritizing selecting the right chief executive to lead the systematic rollout of that growth strategy.”

Market Challenges

Recently, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5 percent in the Q3. In the summer, it warned that the food delivery sector had “grown more challenging” as it attributed economic uncertainty in the lead-up to the government announcement and higher payroll outlays for weaker-than-expected sales and a significant fall in half-year profits.

Competitors are also experiencing difficulties. Another major chain revealed the closure of dozens of outlets a last month, after the business behind its British operations fell into administration.

Wellness Initiatives

Trying to keep up with customer preferences towards balanced diets, the company has launched light items, such as its thin-crust line of pizzas below 400 calories as well as meat-free and gluten-free pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has over 2,300 kcal. A family cheese pizza has over 2,100, while a individual has under 1,000 calories.

Interim Leadership

Nicola Frampton has been with the company since 2021, and was formerly with the betting firm William Hill. It is believed that she is not seeking to assume the chief executive role on a full-time basis.

Frampton stated: “Our team has a multiple ongoing growth and operational projects that we will be focused on executing at a rapid rate.”

She said these included further work on the organization's supply chain and new item creation, and its rewards program.

Domino's is also lacking a permanent finance director until the spring, when Andy Andrea comes aboard from the beverage producer C&C Group. Until then, Snow acts as temporary CFO.