Peak pizza? Domino’s boss ousted after launching shift towards chicken
The boss of Domino’s Pizza Group who suggested the UK may have reached peak pizza as he expanded the chain into fried chicken has been ousted after tensions with its board,Andrew Rennie is leaving after just two years at the helm and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company’s chief operating officer, Nicola Frampton, while Domino’s searches for a new leader,Rennie, who worked for Domino’s for more than two decades, has sought to shift Britain’s biggest pizza delivery company towards fried chicken, telling the Financial Times earlier this month there was not “massive growth” left in the UK’s pizza market,He said chicken was “the fastest-growing protein” in the world,It is understood that there was friction between Rennie and the board over his focus and approach to the business, although the statement from Domino’s said he was stepping down “by mutual agreement”.
In September, Domino’s launched its Chick ’N’ Dip brand – which Rennie described as a “bold new chapter” for the group – and is trialling it in 210 outlets in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.While the company is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as planned, it sees fried chicken as complementary to its core pizza business.Ian Bull, the Domino’s chair, said: “The board believes that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and value creation in Domino’s core business.We are focused on identifying the right chief executive to lead the disciplined execution of that growth strategy.”Earlier this month, Domino’s, which has 13 million customers in the UK and Ireland, said orders dipped 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 Wednesday’s budget and rising wage costs for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15% drop in half-year profits.Other pizza operators are also struggling.Pizza Hut announced the closure of 68 restaurants a month ago, after the company behind its UK venues fell into administration.Trying to keep up with consumer trends towards healthier eating, Domino’s has launched lower-calorie products, such as its Thin & Crispy range of pizzas below 400 calories as well as plant-based and gluten-free pizzas.
A large pepperoni pizza has 2,311 calories.A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171, while a small has 909 calories.Frampton has been with Domino’s since 2021, and previously worked for the gambling company William Hill.It is thought that she does not want to take on the chief executive role permanently.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionShe said: “We have a number of ongoing growth and performance initiatives that we will be focused on executing at pace.
”She said these included further work on the company’s supply chain and product development, and its loyalty scheme.Domino’s is also without a permanent chief financial officer until 16 March, when Andy Andrea joins from the Irish cider and beer maker C&D Group.Until then, Richard Snow serves as interim finance chief.The company had been on the hunt to buy a second brand to complement Domino’s, but will not now pursue an acquisition until a new chief executive is in place.It has also postponed its investor day on 9 December.
Budget uncertainty hammers retail confidence; UK bank shares jump after ‘avoiding windfall tax raid’ – business live
Shares in UK banks have jumped at the start of trading, following reports that they will be spared from a tax raid in the budget.NatWest (+3.3%), Barclays (+2.9%) and Lloyds Banking Group (+2.95%) are all among the top risers on the FTSE 100 share index in early trading this morning
UK bank shares rise after reports of budget tax reprieve
UK bank shares have jumped as investors grow increasingly confident that the industry will be shielded from tax rises in Rachel Reeves’s budget this week.Shares in some of the UK’s largest high street lenders rose more than 2% at the start of trading on Tuesday, after reports that the Treasury had asked the sector to issue supportive statements about the following day’s budget, raising expectations they would be spared a further levy.“Reports that UK banks might get a reprieve in this week’s budget from previously floated new tax measures helped give the likes of Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest a lift and underpinned the FTSE 100’s rise on Tuesday,” said Dan Coatsworth, the head of markets at AJ Bell.“It suggests that some intense lobbying by the industry has paid off, although U-turns have been a theme in UK politics for some time so banking boardrooms may not breathe a full sigh of relief until Rachel Reeves has sat down tomorrow afternoon.”Speculation over potential bank tax rises has been swirling for months, having been revived in August when the IPPR thinktank argued that Reeves should levy a new bank tax to claw back money that commercial lenders earn from the Bank of England, as result of an emergency economic policy known as quantitative easing put in place after the 2008 financial crisis
Macquarie Dictionary announces ‘AI slop’ as its word of the year, beating out Ozempic face
AI slop is here, it’s ubiquitous, it’s being used by the US president, Donald Trump, and now, it’s the word of the year.The Macquarie Dictionary dubbed the term the epitome of 2025 linguistics, with a committee of word experts saying the outcome embodies the word of the year’s general theme of reflecting “a major aspect of society or societal change throughout the year”.“We understand now in 2025 what we mean by slop – AI generated slop, which lacks meaningful content or use,” the committee said in a statement announcing its decision.“While in recent years we’ve learnt to become search engineers to find meaningful information, we now need to become prompt engineers in order to wade through the AI slop. Slop in this sense will be a robust addition to English for years to come
AI could replace 3m low-skilled jobs in the UK by 2035, research finds
Up to 3m low-skilled jobs could disappear in the UK by 2035 because of automation and AI, according to a report by a leading educational research charity.The jobs most at risk are those in occupations such as trades, machine operations and administrative roles, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) said.Highly skilled professionals, on the other hand, were forecast to be more in demand as AI and technological advances increase workloads “at least in the short to medium term”. Overall, the report expects the UK economy to add 2.3m jobs by 2035, but unevenly distributed
The Breakdown | A November to remember: let’s celebrate the good in international rugby
We turn the dial towards whimsy and revisit some of the moments that made the autumn internationals irresistibleSouth Africa and Ireland played out a slugfest for the ages and the discourse has been dominated by yellow cards and flying shoulders to the head. England held off a spirited Argentina to claim their 11th consecutive Test win and it seems all anyone can talk about is some alleged after-the-whistle shoving. Wales and New Zealand traded 11 tries in a ding-dong encounter and yet the narrative is weighed down by caveats concerning fading empires.What, exactly, is the point of Test rugby? Beyond winning World Cups and regional crowns, does this chaotic sport hold any value? A bit of spice elevates almost every dish, sure, but it has felt as if this autumn’s brilliant rugby fare has been smothered in a sauce with a needlessly high Scoville count.So, for all the romantics, for anyone inclined to see their incomplete pint of Guinness as half full, for those who believe that elite rugby has never been more entertaining or more competitive or more interesting, let’s turn the dial towards whimsy and revisit some of the moments that made this autumn irresistible
The NBA’s dress code was seen as policing Black culture. Instead it inspired a fashion revolution
Twenty years after the league introduced its controversial policy, many players see it as helping them develop self-expressionLonzo Ball’s froze in confusion. The question – “What do you think about the NBA dress code?” – hung in the air for a second before he cracked a sheepish grin.“There’s a dress code?” he said, smiling.Twenty years after the introduction of a rule that once roiled the league and ignited a culture war over image and identity, one of the NBA’s current players didn’t even know it existed.“Now do-rags are flying, along with jerseys and baggy stuff,” said Ball, a point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers
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