Overview
| Country | B2B email without prior consent? | Main conditions |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Yes, to corporate subscribers (Ltd, LLP, PLC) | Identify yourself and offer an easy opt-out; sole traders and some partnerships need consent unless the soft opt-in applies; UK GDPR covers named contacts |
| Germany | Generally no | UWG §7: advertising emails need prior express consent, including to businesses; a narrow exception for existing customers |
| Austria | Generally no | Telecommunications law requires prior consent for direct marketing emails, with a narrow exception for existing customers |
| Switzerland | Mass advertising: no | UWG Art. 3(1)(o): mass emails need prior consent, correct sender details and an easy opt-out |
| Turkey | Yes, to merchants and tradespeople | Register the address in İYS and check for opt-outs before sending; record opt-outs promptly |
Simplified; exceptions and details apply. Checked in October 2026.
United Kingdom (PECR)
PECR treats corporate subscribers and individual subscribers differently. You can send marketing emails to companies without prior consent, but you must say who you are and give a working way to opt out. Sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals, so a sole-trader plumber in Leeds needs to have consented, unless the soft opt-in for existing customers applies. Named business contacts are still personal data under UK GDPR, so you need a lawful basis, usually legitimate interests backed by a written assessment.
Germany (UWG)
Under §7(2) UWG, advertising by email without the recipient's prior express consent is an unreasonable nuisance, whether the recipient is a consumer or a business. The existing-customer exception in §7(3) is narrow. A first-contact sales email to a German business without consent therefore carries a real risk of a formal warning letter (Abmahnung). Lawful alternatives include inbound marketing, events, referrals and, for businesses, phone calls where consent can reasonably be presumed.
Switzerland
The Swiss Unfair Competition Act bans mass advertising by telecommunication without prior consent, and requires correct sender details and an easy opt-out. Whether a single business email written for one recipient counts as mass advertising depends on the circumstances. Take advice before you scale up.
Turkey (İYS)
Merchants and tradespeople don't have to give prior consent to commercial electronic messages, but they keep the right to refuse them. Before you send, the address has to be registered in İYS (Turkey's central register of message permissions) and checked for opt-outs, and opt-outs must be recorded promptly.
How Repmight handles this
Repmight won't send to a country until you've made a compliance declaration for it. It runs İYS checks for Turkey through your own integrator account, keeps a suppression list for each brand, and adds sender details and a one-click unsubscribe to every email. These are tools and checks. Repmight doesn't make the legal decision for you, and as the sender you remain responsible.
FAQ
Is B2B cold email legal in the UK?
To limited companies and other corporate subscribers, generally yes, as long as you identify yourself and offer an easy opt-out. Sole traders and some partnerships need consent unless the soft opt-in for existing customers applies.
Can I send cold emails to German companies?
Generally not without prior express consent. German law (UWG §7) applies the consent requirement to advertising emails sent to businesses as well as to consumers.
This article is general information as of October 2026, not legal advice. Laws and how they're interpreted change; speak to a lawyer about your own situation.