UK outreach rules
Cold calling rules in the UK
You may cold call a UK business, but only after screening the number, and that is where most guidance written for other markets falls over. There is no business exemption in the UK. Companies register on one preference service and sole traders register on the other, and a business calling list has to be checked against both.
General information, not legal advice. Checked against the ICO on 22 September 2026. For UK email, see the PECR rules.
Who you may ring
Two registers, and you have to check both
The split follows the same corporate and individual subscriber logic as the email rules, but the consequence is the opposite: instead of exempting companies, it gives them a register of their own.
| Register | Who is on it |
|---|---|
| CTPS, the corporate register | Companies, some partnerships and government bodies |
| TPS, the consumer register | Sole traders and some partnerships, plus every consumer |
| Your own do-not-call list | Anyone who has told you directly not to call them |
The ICO's wording on the split is worth keeping: some businesses, being sole traders and some partnerships, register with the TPS, and others, being companies, some partnerships and government bodies, register with the CTPS. Note that partnerships appear on both sides. You cannot tell from a company name which register a given business will be on, which is exactly why the instruction is to screen against both rather than to work it out.
Registration is free, it covers mobile numbers as well as landlines, and a number has to be listed for 28 days before the registration bites. That last one is a grace period on the register's side and nothing more. It is not a window in which a number you already know is registered becomes callable.
The part that catches Australian teams
The Australian model is backwards here
If you are calling into the UK from Australia, this is the paragraph that matters, because the instinct you have built at home is wrong in both directions.
| Australia, then the UK | |
|---|---|
| Are business numbers on the register? | No, business numbers are not eligible for the Do Not Call Register. In the UK, yes, companies register on the CTPS. |
| How many registers to screen? | One. In the UK, two, plus your own list. |
| Are there permitted calling hours? | Yes, set by industry standard and precise. In the UK, none in law. |
| Must you show your number? | Yes. In the UK, also yes, and you must not withhold it. |
So an Australian team running its usual process into a UK list will screen nothing, because at home there is nothing to screen for a business landline, and will assume a calling window that does not legally exist. The first of those is a compliance failure and the second is merely an assumption, which is why the screening is the thing to fix first.
When you may ring
There are no statutory calling hours
This surprises people, and it is worth being exact about, because a great many pages state UK calling hours as though they were law.
The ICO's guidance on live direct marketing calls sets out the screening requirements, the identification requirements and the rules on objections. It says nothing at all about time of day. There is no UK equivalent of the Australian standard that permits calls from 9am to 8pm on weekdays and bars them on Sundays.
Where you see UK calling hours quoted, they generally come from a trade association code of practice, which binds its members and is good practice for everyone else, rather than from PECR. Treat them as sensible rather than statutory, and remember what does bind you: a person who objects to being called must not be called again, and calling at an hour that irritates people is an efficient way to generate objections you then have to honour forever.
On the call itself
Four things every call has to do
These are requirements rather than best practice, and three of them cost nothing to get right.
- Show your number. You must display your number, or a valid alternative contact number, and you must not withhold it on a marketing call.
- Say who is calling. Name your organisation, clearly, at the start.
- Give contact details on request. Contact details or a Freephone number for your organisation, if the person asks for them.
- Never call someone who has said no. An objection made directly to you is binding and the guidance sets no expiry on it, so record it and keep it.
Automated and recorded calls sit under a stricter rule again. You must not make one unless the person has specifically consented to that type of call from you. There is no soft opt-in and no legitimate interests route into an automated call, so in practice a cold list and a recorded message do not go together.
Before you dial
A checklist you can work through
Five things. If all five are true the mechanics are in order, which is most of what compliance is in practice.
- Every number on the list has been screened against the CTPS and the TPS, not one of them.
- Screening is recent, and repeated before each campaign rather than once when the list was built.
- Our own do-not-call list is screened too, and it holds every objection anyone has made to us directly.
- Caller ID is on, the number displayed is ours or a valid alternative, and nobody is withholding it.
- Nothing on this list is getting an automated or recorded call without specific consent to that.
Where software helps, and where it does not
What Empiraa Signal does about this
Signal places calls through your own Twilio account and keeps every call beside the prospect it belongs to, so you have a dated record of who was called, when, and what came of it. When a complaint arrives a year later, that record is the whole defence.
What it does not do, and this matters more than the part it does: Signal does not screen numbers against the CTPS or the TPS for you. That is yours to run, before the list goes anywhere near a dialler. Any vendor whose software claims to make you compliant is selling you something, because the obligation sits with the caller.
The email side of the UK rules is at is cold email legal in the UK. For Australia, the phone rules are at cold calling rules in Australia and the email rules at is cold email legal in Australia.
Questions people actually ask
UK cold calling, answered
Can you cold call a business in the UK?
Yes, but only after screening the number against both preference registers. Unlike Australia, UK business numbers are not exempt. Companies, some partnerships and government bodies register on the Corporate Telephone Preference Service, and sole traders and some partnerships register on the consumer Telephone Preference Service. You must check both before calling a business list. The ICO on business-to-business marketing.
What is the difference between TPS and CTPS?
They are two registers for two kinds of subscriber, and they work the same way. The ICO puts it plainly: some businesses, being sole traders and some partnerships, register with the TPS, and others, being companies, some partnerships and government bodies, register with the CTPS. Because a business can be on either, screening only one of them is not screening.
How long before a registration takes effect?
A number has to be on the register for 28 days before the registration takes effect. That is a grace period on the register’s side, not a licence to call a number you already know is registered.
What hours can I make sales calls in the UK?
UK law does not set permitted calling hours. The ICO’s guidance on live marketing calls is silent on time of day, so there is no statutory window of the kind Australia has. Pages that quote UK calling hours are usually quoting a trade association code rather than the law. That is not permission to ring at seven in the morning: an unreasonably timed call is still a call somebody objects to, and an objection is binding.
Do I have to show my number when I call?
Yes. The ICO is explicit: you must display your number, or a valid alternative contact number, and you must not withhold it when making direct marketing calls. You also have to say who is calling and give contact details or a Freephone number if asked. The ICO on live calls.
Can I use recorded or automated calls?
Only with specific consent from the person you are calling. Automated marketing calls sit under a stricter rule than live ones, and there is no soft opt-in and no legitimate interests route. Without consent to that type of call, from you, do not make it.
Someone asked not to be called again. How long does that last?
Treat it as permanent. The rule is that you must not call someone who has told you they do not want your marketing calls, and the guidance sets no expiry on that. Keep your own do-not-call list alongside the register screening, because the registers will not record an objection made directly to you.
How do the UK phone rules compare with Australia?
They are close to opposite for business calling. Australia excludes business telephone numbers from the Do Not Call Register entirely and sets precise calling hours. The UK lets companies register on the CTPS and sets no hours at all. An Australian team calling into the UK on Australian instincts will screen nothing and assume a time window that does not exist. The Australian phone rules.
Question not answered here? Ask ANI and get a straight answer.
Show your working
Primary sources
Checked against these on 22 September 2026. They are the authority; this page is a plain-English reading of them, and it is general information rather than legal advice.
- ICO, what are the rules on live direct marketing calls for register screening, the 28-day rule, calling line identification and objections.
- ICO, telephone marketing for which businesses register with which service, and the consent rule on automated calls.
- ICO, business-to-business marketing for the corporate and individual subscriber distinction that the two registers follow.
One thing deliberately left out. It is widely stated that CTPS registrations expire annually while TPS registrations do not. We could not confirm that against the ICO or the preference service itself, so it is not on this page. If you rely on a renewal cycle in your own screening schedule, confirm it with the register rather than with us.