How to cold call in the UK: a 12-step guide from list to meeting

Cold calling in the UK is a skill and a process. The skill is the conversation: a clear opener, a good question, and a calm answer to "not interested". The process is everything around it: who you call, where the numbers come from, which numbers you must not dial, and what you write down afterwards. This guide covers both, in the order a calling day runs. Whether cold calling is lawful at all is answered in are cold calls illegal in the UK; this piece assumes you have decided to call and want to do it well.

This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.

The short answer

To cold call in the UK, pick a narrow target market, build a list from sources you can name, and check each number works. Screen every number against the TPS, the CTPS and your own do-not-call list before you dial. Then call in short focused blocks with a two-sentence opener, ask one good question, and aim for a next step rather than a sale. Log every outcome on the record the same day, follow up on a fixed cadence, and measure dials, conversations and meetings each week.

The steps below expand each part. Steps 4 and 5 cover the two legal duties that apply to every call: consent and suppression.

Step 1: Decide who to call

Most cold calling fails before the phone rings, because the list is too broad. A list of "UK businesses with 10 to 50 staff" gives you nothing to say. A list of "independent veterinary practices in the North West with two or more sites" gives you a reason for the call and a problem to ask about.

Write your target down in four lines:

• Sector. As narrow as you can make it while still leaving a few hundred companies.
• Size. Staff count or turnover band, so the person you reach can actually buy.
• Role. The job title that owns the problem you solve. In a small firm that is usually the owner or managing director; in a larger one it is a head of department.
• Trigger. Something that makes this month a good time: a new site, a new hire, a change in regulation, a funding round, a contract win.

If you cannot name a trigger, start with the companies most like your best current customers. Calls to look-alikes give you more relevant things to say.

Step 2: Build the list

A good list has a company name, a named person, a role, a direct or switchboard number, a source for each fact, and the date you collected it. The common sources are:

• Companies House. The free company search gives registered name, status, SIC code, registered office and the current directors. It does not give phone numbers, but it tells you who runs the company and whether it is still trading.
• The company's own website. Contact pages, team pages and footers. A number a business publishes for enquiries is the one it expects to be called on.
• Trade directories and association member lists. Useful for niche sectors, and often more current than bought data.
• LinkedIn. Good for confirming names and roles. Treat it as a check on who holds a job, not as a source of phone numbers.
• B2B data providers. Fast, but quality varies by sector. Ask each provider how often it refreshes numbers, and whether it screens against the TPS and CTPS (some check at the moment you pull a number, few re-check later, and the duty stays with you as the caller either way). Our comparison of UK contact data tools covers what each one does and does not check.

Record the source of every number. If someone asks where you got their details, you need a straight answer.

Step 3: Check the numbers work

Dead numbers waste dial time and distort your connect rate. Before a list goes live:

• Remove duplicates and numbers in the wrong format. Store numbers in one format, such as +44 followed by the national number without the leading zero.
• Remove numbers for companies Companies House shows as dissolved or in liquidation.
• Separate landlines from mobiles. A mobile on a business list often belongs to a sole trader, which matters in step 5.
• Run a dead number check on the mobiles. A dead number check (an HLR lookup) asks the mobile network whether a mobile is live, switched off or dead, so callers stop dialling numbers that cannot answer. It works on mobiles only, not landlines. HLR lookups explained covers what one tells you, and our features page shows the dead number check alongside TPS screening.

Step 4: Manage consent

A cold call is by definition one the person has not asked for, so most of your list will be called without consent. Consent matters in two places. First, a number on the TPS or CTPS can be called only if that subscriber has told you they do not, for the time being, object to your calls (PECR regulation 21(4)). They can withdraw that at any time (regulation 21(5)). There is no soft opt-in for calls, so being an existing customer does not count. Second, recorded-message calls need prior consent under regulation 19, so this guide is about live calls only.

In practice: when someone on a registered number says "yes, you can call me about this", record the date, the person, the wording and the channel on the CRM record. If there is no record, treat the number as unsolicited and screen it. The rules on what counts are in calling a TPS number with consent.

Step 5: Screen against suppression lists

Regulation 21(1) of PECR bars unsolicited marketing calls to a number listed on the register kept under regulation 26 (the TPS for individual subscribers, the CTPS for corporate ones), and to a line whose subscriber has told you not to call it (regulation 21(1)(a)). A newly registered number binds you once it has been listed for 28 days (regulation 21(3)).

That gives three lists to check every number against, in this order:

1. Your own do-not-call list. Anyone who has asked you to stop, whether or not they are on a register.
2. The CTPS. For limited companies, LLPs and other corporate subscribers.
3. The TPS. For individual subscribers, which includes sole traders and partnerships outside Scotland. Sole traders and partnerships explains why a B2B list needs both registers.

Screen when a number enters your CRM, again when it changes, and again before the result is 28 days old. TPS and CTPS suppression explained covers how to keep your own list, and the 28-day rule covers re-screening. For a single number you can use the free TPS checker. For a whole CRM, TPSClear screens numbers inside HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho, or through Zapier, and writes the verdict onto the record.

Step 6: Choose when to call

PECR's calling rule does not set calling hours. For business calls the practical limit is when your buyer is at a desk and able to talk. There is no universal best hour, and claims that one exists are rarely backed by data. Find your own:

• Split the day into blocks (for example 8:30 to 10:00, 10:00 to 12:00, 13:30 to 15:00 and 15:00 to 17:00) and log which block each call was made in.
• After a few hundred dials, compare the share of dials that reached a person in each block.
• Move most of your calling into the two best blocks, and keep testing one other block each week.

Think about the sector too. Trades and site-based businesses tend to be reachable at different times from office-based ones, and your own log is the evidence. Call in focused blocks of 60 to 90 minutes with no email open. Calling is easier in a run than in single calls between other tasks.

Step 7: Write the opener

The opening seconds often decide whether you get a conversation. A good opener does three things: says who you are, gives a reason for the call that relates to them, and asks permission or a question.

An example:

"Hi Sarah, it's Tom from Northfield Software. I'm calling because you opened your second practice in Bolton this year, and most two-site practices we work with end up running two booking systems. Is that something you've had to deal with?"

Your company's name is not optional. Regulation 24 of PECR requires a marketing caller to give its name, and an address or a free-to-call number if the person asks for it. Have both ready. You must also either show your calling number or present another number on which you can be contacted (regulation 21(A1)).

Avoid "how are you today?" as an opener. Do not pretend to know the person, and do not claim the call is anything other than a sales call.

Step 8: Run the call

A cold call that goes well has a simple shape:

1. Opener. As above, under 20 seconds.
2. Question. One open question about the problem you solve. Then listen.
3. Follow-up questions. Two or three, to find out whether the problem is real, how they handle it now, and who else is involved.
4. Short relevance statement. One or two sentences on what you do for firms in the same position. Use a named customer type, not a list of features.
5. Next step. Ask for a specific meeting time, not "a chat sometime". Offer two slots.

Aim for the meeting, not the sale. A B2B purchase often needs more than one conversation and more than one person. A call that books a 20-minute slot next Tuesday with the right person is a good call.

If you reach a receptionist or gatekeeper, be straightforward. Give your name, company and the reason in one sentence, and ask who handles that area. Gatekeepers are often the best source of the right name and the best time to call.

Step 9: Handle objections

These five objections come up often. Prepare a short, honest answer to each:

"Not interested" deserves one respectful question at most, such as "Fair enough. Is that because you have it covered, or because it isn't a priority this year?" If they repeat it, thank them and end the call.

Anything that sounds like "don't call me again" is different. Under regulation 21(1)(a), once the subscriber has told you not to call a line, you cannot make marketing calls to it. Treat every version of it ("take me off your list", "stop ringing here") as an opt-out. Apologise, end the call, and add the number to your do-not-call list before the next dial. If the person is also objecting to your use of their data for marketing, that right under UK GDPR Article 21(2) and (3) is absolute: stop using their details for marketing on any channel.

Step 10: Log every outcome

Every dial gets an outcome on the CRM record, the same day. Keep the list of outcomes short so callers use it consistently:

• No answer
• Voicemail left
• Wrong number or dead line
• Gatekeeper, got a name
• Conversation, not now (with a follow-up date)
• Conversation, meeting booked
• Not interested
• Do not call (opt-out)

Add one line of notes for any conversation: what they use now, who else decides, and what they said. Six months later, that line is what makes a second call relevant. The opt-out outcome should write straight to your suppression list, so nobody has to remember to copy it.

Step 11: Follow up on a cadence

Many prospects will not answer the first call. A fixed sequence stops good prospects falling through the gaps and stops bad ones being called too often. A simple sequence over three weeks:

1. Day 1: call. If no answer, leave a short voicemail with your name, company, reason and number.
2. Day 1: send a short email that refers to the voicemail.
3. Day 3: call again, at a different time block.
4. Day 7: call again.
5. Day 14: call, then a second short email.
6. Day 21: last call. If no contact, park the record and set a review date three to six months out.

Follow-up emails have their own rules. Every marketing email must identify the sender and give a valid address for opt-outs (PECR regulation 23), whoever receives it. An email to an individual subscriber, which includes sole traders, also needs their prior consent or the soft opt-in under regulation 22. A cold email to a named person at a limited company does not need consent under PECR. PECR explained covers the email rules in full.

Re-screen any record you come back to after a long gap. A number that was clear in March may be on the TPS by October.

Step 12: Measure the right numbers

Track four numbers per caller per week, and work out the three rates between them:

Each rate points to a different fix. A low connect rate means a list or timing problem, so go back to steps 2, 3 and 6. A low conversation rate means the opener needs work. A low meeting rate usually means the wrong people or a weak ask.

As a worked example only, not a benchmark: 200 dials in a week, 24 connects and 12 conversations that produce 3 meetings gives a 12% connect rate, a 50% conversation rate and a 25% meeting rate. Your own figures after the first two or three weeks are the baseline to improve against. Industry averages vary too much by sector and list source to be useful targets.

A first week plan

1. Monday. Write the four-line target from step 1. Pull 200 to 300 companies from Companies House and websites.
2. Tuesday. Add names, roles and numbers with sources. Clean the formats and remove dissolved companies.
3. Wednesday morning. Screen the list against your do-not-call list, the CTPS and the TPS. Load only the clear numbers.
4. Wednesday afternoon. Write the opener and five objection answers. Say them out loud until they sound like you.
5. Thursday and Friday. Two calling blocks a day. Log every outcome. Send follow-up emails the same day.
6. Friday end of day. Count dials, connects, conversations and meetings. Note which time block worked best.

Repeat the cycle each week, changing one thing at a time: the list, the time block, the opener or the question. Changing several at once tells you nothing about which change mattered.

What to do next

If you run a team rather than calling yourself, the TPS compliance checklist for call centres turns steps 4, 5 and 10 into controls you can audit. If you plan to use a dialler or an AI agent, read AI cold callers and auto-diallers under PECR first, because recorded and automated calls follow a different rule. The penalty for breaching the calling rules is now up to £17.5 million or, for an undertaking, 4% of worldwide turnover if that is higher; what the Data Use and Access Act changed explains when that applies. And if you are planning a wider launch, go-to-market strategy for the UK puts calling alongside the other channels.