· 6 min read · Guide
B2B appointment setting and telemarketing in the UK: the PECR rules, quoted
The UK rules for B2B appointment setting and telemarketing, quoted from PECR: which numbers you may not call, who counts as an individual for cold email, what a caller must say, and the fines that apply since February 2026.
Written by Orestas Nariunas
Chief Operating Officer at A-Sales
B2B appointment setting and telemarketing in the UK are legal without the prospect's prior consent, as long as you follow the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR): screen every number against the register businesses can join, honour any request to stop, show your number and give your name. Cold email is different: companies and LLPs can be emailed without prior consent, but sole traders and partnerships outside Scotland count as individuals and need it. Since 5 February 2026, breaking these rules can cost £17.5 million or 4% of worldwide turnover. We sell calling-led appointment setting, so read this as a provider's guide, and check the regulations we link. This is not legal advice.
The rules at a glance
| Activity | What PECR says | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Sales call to a business | Allowed unless the number is on the register or the business has told you not to call | Reg. 21(1) |
| Caller ID | Show your number, or a number you can be reached on | Reg. 21(A1) |
| Newly registered numbers | A number listed for less than 28 days is not yet a breach | Reg. 21(3) |
| What the caller says | Your name; your address or a freephone number if asked | Reg. 24 |
| Business register | Corporate subscribers can join it, in writing | Reg. 26(1A) |
| Marketing email | Prior consent for individual subscribers, with an existing-customer exception | Reg. 22 |
| Every marketing email | Sender identified; a valid address to opt out | Reg. 23 |
| Fines | £17.5m or 4% of worldwide turnover for breaches of regs. 21 to 24 | DUAA 2025, Sch. 13; DPA 2018, s. 157 |
Calls: what you may and may not dial
Regulation 21 is the rule for live sales calls. It does not ask for consent. It bars a call in two cases: the subscriber "has previously notified the caller that such calls should not for the time being be made on that line", or the number is listed on the register kept under regulation 26. Regulation 26 lets corporate subscribers join that register by notifying in writing. It is run as the Telephone Preference Service, and its Corporate TPS list covers "limited companies, public limited companies and Scottish partnerships". Sole traders and other partnerships are individuals under PECR, so a business list needs screening against both the TPS and the Corporate TPS.
Three details decide how a calling floor works day to day:
- Screen every list before it is dialled. A number on the register is off limits for sales calls, whether or not the person on the line would have been interested.
- The 28-day grace period is short. Regulation 21(3) only protects a call made within 28 days of the number being listed, so a list screened months ago needs screening again.
- An objection is per caller, and it lasts. Once a business tells you not to call, that line stays off your list. A business that is on the register can still tell you it does not object to your calls, under regulation 21(4), and withdraw that at any time.
Regulation 24 sets what the caller must give: the name of the business calling, and, if the person called asks, either an address or a telephone number "on which he can be reached free of charge". Regulation 21(A1) adds that the caller must not hide its number.
Email: who counts as an individual
Regulation 22 requires prior consent before marketing email, but it "applies to the transmission of unsolicited communications by means of electronic mail to individual subscribers". The definitions in regulation 2 decide who that is:
- An individual is "a living individual and includes an unincorporated body of such individuals".
- A corporate subscriber includes a company, "a partnership in Scotland", and "any other body corporate or entity which is a legal person distinct from its members".
Our reading, not legal advice: companies and LLPs are corporate subscribers, so regulation 22's consent rule does not apply to them. A sole trader, or a partnership in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, is an individual, and needs the same prior consent as a consumer, unless it is your existing customer under the exception in regulation 22(3). Check the legal form of each business before an email sequence starts.
Whoever you email, regulation 23 bars marketing email that disguises the sender or has no valid address for a request to stop.
The fines since February 2026
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 moved PECR enforcement onto the Data Protection Act 2018 penalty regime, for breaches on or after 5 February 2026 (SI 2026/82, regulation 11). Breaches of regulations 21, 22, 23 and 24 carry the "higher maximum amount" in section 157 of the 2018 Act: £17,500,000 or 4% of the undertaking's total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, whichever is higher. The Act also lets the regulator fine an officer of the company personally when a breach of regulations 19 to 24 happened with their consent or connivance, or through their neglect.
For a buyer, that changes what an agency's compliance answer is worth. The fine attaches to whoever makes or instigates the calls, so ask how the agency screens, records objections and shows its number, and get it in writing.
Questions to ask a UK appointment setting agency
- Is every list screened against the register before it is dialled, and how often is it screened again?
- How is "do not call" recorded, and does it hold across every campaign you run for us?
- Which number shows when you call, and can a prospect call it back?
- Do your callers give our name or yours, and what do they say when asked for an address?
- How do you check whether an email contact is a company, an LLP, a sole trader or a partnership before a sequence starts?
- Who carries the risk of a breach in the contract?
- What counts as a qualified meeting, and is a no-show billed?
How A-Sales books UK meetings
A-Sales covers EU and US time zones, and cold calling is the lead channel, with email and LinkedIn alongside it where the rules above allow. Meetings are billed against a qualification standard agreed in writing before launch, and no-shows are not billed. Managed engagements start from $4,000 a month; once your target profile is proven, pay-per-appointment starts from $500 per held, qualified meeting.
Our cold calling benchmarks page publishes how often B2B calls are answered in the UK, Europe and the US. If you are calling into the EU as well, our guide to outsourced SDR in Europe quotes the EU and German rules, which are stricter on email.
Sources
- Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, regulations 2, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 26, latest revised text, checked 9 November 2026
- Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, Schedule 13, checked 9 November 2026
- Data Protection Act 2018, section 157, checked 9 November 2026
- The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, regulation 11
- Corporate Telephone Preference Service, checked 9 November 2026
- A-Sales cold calling benchmarks, January to June 2026
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Under regulation 21 of PECR you may make live sales calls to a business unless the number is listed on the register kept under regulation 26, which businesses can join in writing, or the business has told you not to call it. You must show a number you can be reached on, and give your name. This is not legal advice.
Yes. Regulation 21(1)(b) bars sales calls to any number on the register kept under regulation 26, and corporate subscribers can register. A number listed for less than 28 days is not yet a breach under regulation 21(3), and a business that has told you it does not object to your calls can still be called while that permission stands.
To companies and LLPs, PECR does not require prior consent: regulation 22 covers individual subscribers. But PECR defines an individual to include "an unincorporated body of such individuals", so in our reading a sole trader or a partnership outside Scotland needs the same consent as a consumer. Every marketing email must also identify the sender and give a valid address to opt out, under regulation 23.
For breaches on or after 5 February 2026, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 applies the Data Protection Act 2018 penalty regime to PECR. Breaches of regulations 21 to 24, which cover calls and email, carry the higher maximum: £17.5 million or 4% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher. A company officer can also be fined personally if the breach happened with their consent or through their neglect.
A-Sales covers EU and US time zones, with cold calling as the lead channel. Managed engagements start from $4,000 a month, and once your target profile is proven, pay-per-appointment starts from $500 per held, qualified meeting.
