This is a practical summary for businesses, not legal advice. If you’re unsure about your situation, speak to a solicitor or read the ICO’s guidance on electronic marketing.
Short answer: yes, sending cold email to businesses is allowed in the UK, as long as you do it properly. The rules come mainly from two places: the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), which cover marketing by email, and UK GDPR, which covers how you handle people’s personal data.
Who you can email
PECR treats two kinds of recipient differently. Companies, limited liability partnerships and government bodies are “corporate subscribers”, and you can send them unsolicited marketing email without prior consent. Individuals, including sole traders and many ordinary partnerships, are treated as individual subscribers, and you generally need their consent first.
In practice that means cold email should go to people at companies, at their work address. A personal Gmail or Hotmail address is a sign you’re emailing an individual, which is why Buckshot skips personal addresses for UK and European sending.
What every cold email must include
Even when emailing a company, you must say who you are and give a valid way for the recipient to opt out. Good practice is to include your business name, a postal address and a simple unsubscribe route in every email, and to honour opt-outs straight away and permanently.
UK GDPR still applies
A named person’s work email, such as sam@example.co.uk, is still personal data. You need a lawful basis to use it, which for business outreach is usually legitimate interests: the email must be relevant to the person’s job, and you should be able to explain why it’s reasonable to contact them. Keep your lists accurate, don’t keep data forever, and tell people how to find your privacy notice.
Things to avoid
Bought consumer lists, guessed email addresses, misleading subject lines, hiding who you are, and carrying on after someone has said no. Each of these can break the rules, and all of them hurt your sending reputation.
How Buckshot helps
Buckshot adds your business name, postal address and a one-click unsubscribe to every email, skips personal addresses for UK and European sending, and adds anyone who opts out to a do-not-email list that can’t be overridden. Register your interest to try it when it opens.