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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 Domino’s statement 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.

She 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 UK could end its reliance on exporting plastic waste by 2030 to support the creation of 5,400 new jobs and take responsibility for the environmental impact of its waste, according to research.

The report said up to 15 new recycling facilities could be built by the end of the decade, attracting more than £800m of private investment. The increase in capacity would help generate almost £900m of economic value every year; providing at least £100m of new tax revenues annually.

The report by Hybrid Economics comes as Britain’s plastic exports rose by 5% in 2024 to nearly 600,000 tonnes of waste.

Exporting plastic creates environmental problems for many countries that receive it, as they do not have the ability to recycle it. It also, the report argues, removes valuable feedstock for a British recycling industry.

Campaigners want the loophole that makes it cheaper to export plastic waste rather than recycle it in the UK, closed.

Exports have soared in the first part of this year to Indonesia in particular – a country struggling with an environmental crisis from plastic pollution – amounting to more than 24,000 tonnes.

The report said that by exporting the unprocessed plastic waste it produces, the UK is evading its responsibility to deal with its own waste and was denying itself an economic opportunity.

The Guardian revealed last month that, in the past two years, 21 plastic recycling and processing factories across the UK have shut down owing to the scale of exports, the cheap price of virgin plastic and an influx of cheap products from Asia.

Neville Hill, partner at Hybrid Economics, which produced the report, said the UK was only using half of its potential for recycling plastic waste. He said: “Ending exports of unprocessed plastic packaging waste by 2030 would allow the UK to take control of its environmental responsibilities and seize a clear economic opportunity.

“Our analysis shows the sector can expand significantly with no call on public funds, provided government sets the right framework.”

The way payments are made up at present incentivises the export of plastic waste, rather than encouraging businesses to keep it in the UK to be recycled.

James McLeary, the managing director of Biffa Polymers, which commissioned the report, said the company had recycled 10bn plastic HDPE milk bottles in the last 20 years. He described this as a circular economy success story.

“The lesson is simple. When the right conditions are in place, UK recycling grows, investment follows and the environmental and economic benefits build year after year. The UK can replicate that success across all plastic packaging and take responsibility for processing its own waste onshore.”

The report is calling for an increase in the plastic packaging tax, which is imposed on producers who fail to include at least 30% of recycled plastic in their products, to 50% and a total phasing out of exports of unprocessed plastic packaging waste.