Sole traders and partnerships as email recipients
Published 22 October 2026 by Emailmovers Limited. General information, not legal advice.
Sole traders and most partnerships are individual subscribers under PECR, so you need their consent (or the soft opt-in) before sending them marketing emails, even though they are businesses. The exceptions are limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and Scottish partnerships, which are bodies corporate and so count as corporate subscribers. Because an email address does not show legal form, the safe approach is to treat a business as an individual unless you can confirm it is a registered body corporate.
Why business owners can be individual subscribers
PECR protects subscribers by type, not by what they do. The test is whether the subscriber has its own legal personality. A limited company does. A sole trader does not: the business and the person are legally the same. An ordinary partnership in England, Wales or Northern Ireland is a group of individuals trading together, not a separate legal person.
ICO guidance on business to business marketing reflects this. The ICO (which became the Information Commission on 30 September 2026) lists sole traders and partnerships other than LLPs and Scottish partnerships as individual subscribers, with the same protection as consumers.
Quick reference
| Recipient | PECR subscriber type | Consent needed for marketing email? |
|---|---|---|
| Private limited company or PLC | Corporate | No (reg 23 identity and opt-out still apply) |
| Limited liability partnership | Corporate | No (reg 23 still applies) |
| Scottish partnership | Corporate | No (reg 23 still applies) |
| Sole trader | Individual | Yes, or the soft opt-in |
| Other partnership | Individual | Yes, or the soft opt-in |
| Not sure | Treat as individual | Yes |
The domain trap
A professional domain proves nothing about legal form. Plenty of sole traders and small partnerships run their own domains, such as a consultant on smithconsulting.co.uk or a family firm of accountants on their own surname. A list of business email addresses can easily contain a large share of individual subscribers.
The reverse also happens: a company may trade under a brand that looks nothing like its registered name. Guessing from the domain alone gets both cases wrong.
Names can mislead as well. A firm called Smith and Partners may be an ordinary partnership, an LLP or a limited company that kept an old trading name. Only the register tells you which, so check the legal entity rather than the words in the domain or the email signature.
How to tell them apart
- Look for a registration. Bodies corporate in the UK are on the Companies House register, with a company number, type and status. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are not.
- Check the status. A dissolved company is no longer a body corporate. A domain that outlived its company should be treated as unknown.
- Check the type. LLPs and Scottish partnerships are registered and are corporate subscribers. Other partnerships are not.
- Default to individual. Where there is no confident match, follow the ICO approach and treat the address as an individual subscriber.
What PECR Check returns
PECR Check only returns CORPORATE_SUBSCRIBER when the domain is confidently matched to an active UK body corporate. The reason codes show the detail, for example COMPANY_MATCHED, COMPANY_ACTIVE, LLP or SCOTTISH_PARTNERSHIP. A business domain with no registered company behind it returns UNKNOWN with NO_UK_MATCH, and a matched entity that is not a body corporate returns NOT_BODY_CORPORATE. Both carry the recommended action CONSENT_REQUIRED.
Emailing sole traders and partnerships lawfully
You can still market to these businesses by email, on the same terms as consumers. Collect consent when they sign up, enquire or attend an event, or rely on the soft opt-in where they bought from you (or negotiated to) and were given a chance to opt out at the time and in every message since. Keep records of how and when consent was given. PECR Check gives you a classification with evidence, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send B2B marketing emails to a sole trader without consent?
No. Sole traders are individual subscribers under PECR, so you need their consent or the soft opt-in, even if they use a business domain.
Is an LLP treated like a partnership?
No. A limited liability partnership is a body corporate, so it is a corporate subscriber. PECR Check returns the reason code LLP when the matched company is one.
Are Scottish partnerships different?
Yes. Scottish partnerships have legal personality and ICO guidance lists them as corporate subscribers. PECR Check returns the reason code SCOTTISH_PARTNERSHIP.
What if a sole trader later incorporates?
Once a limited company exists and the domain belongs to it, the address can be a corporate subscriber. Check again rather than relying on an old result: PECR Check caches results for 30 days.