UK cold calling rules: TPS, PECR and call recording in plain English

Cold calling is legal in the UK, B2B included. It is also regulated, and the rules are mostly about who you may ring, how you identify yourself and what you do with the data. Most teams that get into trouble are not doing anything malicious. They are working off a list nobody checked.

The main rules: PECR and UK GDPR

Two pieces of law do most of the work. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) govern marketing calls: who you can ring and how. UK GDPR governs the personal data in your list and what you do with it. The ICO publishes guidance on both and enforces them.

TPS and CTPS: you have to screen

You must not make unsolicited marketing calls to a number registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), or the Corporate TPS (CTPS) for companies, unless that person has told you they are happy to hear from you. The register applies to business numbers as well as consumer ones. Limited companies and LLPs go on the CTPS; sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals and go on the TPS. Screening is your responsibility, and registers are refreshed regularly, so a list screened last year is not screened. See tpsonline.org.uk for how to get access.

Your own do-not-call list

Anyone who tells you not to call them again goes on your own suppression list, and that request has to be honoured quickly and permanently, including when the same number reappears in a freshly bought list. This is the one most often broken, because a rep hears "don't call me again", writes it in a notes column, and the next import brings the number back.

Caller ID

You must present a number the person can call back, and you must not withhold it. Calls from hidden or spoofed numbers are a common source of complaints and enforcement action.

Calling hours

There is no single statutory window for B2B calls, but sensible practice and complaint data both point the same way: do not ring early in the morning or late in the evening. Set a limit and enforce it in the tool rather than relying on reps checking the clock.

Recording calls

If you record calls, tell people at the start, before the recording begins, and be clear about why and for how long you keep it. A recording of a private conversation is personal data. Recording a call before the other person has been told is where teams get caught out.

A working checklist

1. 1.Screen every list against the TPS and CTPS before it is called, and re-screen on a schedule.
2. 2.Keep one do-not-call list for the whole team and check it at the moment of dialling.
3. 3.Always present a valid caller ID that can be called back.
4. 4.Set calling hours and enforce them automatically.
5. 5.Announce recording before it starts, and keep recordings only as long as you need them.
6. 6.Keep a record of where each lead came from and why you are calling.

How software helps, and where it stops

Dialspire lets an admin load a TPS or do-not-call list and the team's own suppressions, and refuses to dial a suppressed number at the moment of the call, whatever form the number is stored in. Calling hours are enforced on the server, reps must use a verified caller ID, and when recording is switched on a spoken announcement plays to the person being called before the recording starts. What it does not do is obtain a TPS file for you or decide whether you have a lawful basis for a given list. Those stay with you. For the wider picture of what to look for, see our guide to cold calling software.