Is B2B cold calling legal in the UK? The 2026 rules, plainly.

Yes. A live sales call to a UK business is legal without its prior consent, as long as the number is not registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS), the business has not told you to stop, and the caller says who they are calling for and shows a number that can be called back. Sole traders and some partnerships are treated like individuals. Since 5 February 2026 the maximum fine for breaking these rules is £17.5m or 4 per cent of global annual turnover, whichever is higher.

This is a summary, not legal advice, and the Information Commissioner’s Office is updating its guidance after the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.

Calling businesses: the rules

1. Screen against the TPS and CTPS.

   Companies, some partnerships and government bodies can register on the CTPS; sole traders and some partnerships on the TPS. A business on either can be called only if it has said it is happy to hear from you.

2. Re-screen, because of the 28 days.

   A new registration counts once it has been on the register for 28 days, so a list checked last quarter is not clean today.

3. Keep your own do-not-call list.

   Anyone who says they do not want to be called again must not be, whatever the registers say.

4. Say who is calling.

   Name the business you are calling for, show a number that can be called back, and give an address or freephone number if asked. Withheld numbers are not allowed.

5. No recorded or automated calls without specific consent.

   Consent to marketing in general, or to live calls, is not enough. This is also why an AI calling a prospect cold is a legal problem in the UK.

6. Mind the dialler.

   Ofcom treats abandoned and silent calls as persistent misuse. If no one is free to take a connected call, the person should hear a short message within two seconds.

Emailing businesses: the rules

• Companies, LLPs, Scottish partnerships and some government bodies can be sent marketing email without prior consent, if the sender says who they are and gives a working way to opt out.
• Sole traders and some partnerships need to have consented, or fall within the soft opt-in, before they are emailed.
• A named person’s work email is still personal data under UK GDPR. B2B prospecting usually relies on legitimate interests, which needs an assessment, and the right to object to direct marketing has no exceptions.
• Keep a suppression list and check every send against it. The ICO prefers suppression to deletion, so someone who objected is not picked up again from another source.

What changed in 2026

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 brought the fines for breaking the electronic marketing rules up to UK GDPR levels from 5 February 2026: £17.5m or 4 per cent of global annual turnover, whichever is higher. The rules on who can be called and emailed did not loosen; the cost of getting them wrong went up sharply.

What a compliant outbound team does

• Cleanses every calling list against the TPS and CTPS before it is dialled - we use specialist list-cleansing software - rather than checking once at the start.
• Keeps one suppression list across phone and email, and checks it before every campaign.
• Makes live calls from a number that can be called back, and says whose behalf the call is on.
• Writes a legitimate interests assessment before the first email, and puts an opt-out in every one.

How we screen is set out in the help centre, and the rules sit beside how a calling day runs on cold calling.

Sources: ICO, telephone marketing; ICO, business-to-business marketing; ICO, the right to object; Clifford Chance on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 commencement.