Guest marketing consent for UK restaurants: emails and texts ​

A short email about a new menu or a text on a quiet Tuesday can fill tables. But emails and texts to individuals fall under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) as well as data protection law, and the regulator can now fine as much for a careless campaign as for a data breach. This guide covers who you may write to, the two ways to get there, what to record and how to stop on time.

Two ways to be allowed to send ​

1. Consent. The guest ticks an unticked box that says what they agree to: offers and news from your restaurant, by email and/or text. The ICO says you must not use pre-ticked boxes, silence or inactivity as consent. Separate boxes for email and text make the choice clear.

2. The soft opt-in for your own customers. You may email or text without a tick if all of these are true:

• you got the details while selling or negotiating to sell: a booking, an order, a voucher purchase;
• you only market your own similar products (your food, drinks, events, vouchers);
• you gave a simple way to refuse at that moment, for example an unticked “I don’t want offers and news” box on the booking or checkout form;
• every later message lets them opt out, free of charge.

The ICO is clear that an opt-out offered only afterwards, for example in the order confirmation email, is not enough, and neither is one hidden in your privacy policy. A bought or borrowed list never qualifies.

Where restaurants get it wrong ​

• Guest WiFi is not a sale. Logging in to free WiFi buys nothing, so the soft opt-in does not apply: you need a ticked box. Agreeing to the WiFi terms is not agreeing to marketing.
• The person a gift voucher is for did not buy anything from you. Only the buyer can be on the soft opt-in.
• Details staff typed in (a phone booking noted on the till, a name for a takeaway) need the same chance to refuse at the time. If you cannot show that, do not market to them.
• “No” means no on every channel you name. If someone unsubscribes from email, do not keep texting them unless they agreed to texts separately.

Saying no must be easy ​

• An unsubscribe link in every email. Large email providers also expect bulk senders to support a one-click unsubscribe in the mail app itself.
• “Reply STOP” in every marketing text, and a STOP that really stops.
• Act on a no immediately or as soon as possible, and keep a note of it so a later booking does not switch the guest back on.

How long consent lasts ​

There is no fixed expiry. The ICO says it depends on the context, people’s expectations and your relationship, and treats consent for direct marketing as lasting only “for the time being”. A sensible rule: stop writing to guests who have not visited, booked, ordered or clicked a link for six months. Email “opens” are a poor signal: many mail apps open every message automatically.

Frequency and timing ​

The law sets no number, but too many messages is the fastest way to lose guests and invite complaints. Many restaurants keep to one or two emails and at most one text a week, and send texts only in the daytime (for example 9am to 8pm).

What to record ​

For each email address and phone number:

• who agreed or was added under the soft opt-in, when and where (WiFi, booking form, checkout);
• what they saw: the exact wording, with a version, so you can show it later;
• every opt-out, with the date and how (link, STOP, in person).

Keep the evidence for as long as you rely on it. If a guest asks you to delete their details, remove them, and keep only what you need to make sure they are not added again.

Tell guests where it happens ​

Next to each box, link to a short notice: what you send, how often, how to stop, how long you keep the details and who handles them for you. If you use a system provider, it is your processor and needs a contract that covers it.

In Yumee ​

Yumee’s guest marketing add-on is switched on restaurant by restaurant.

• Separate boxes on the guest WiFi for email and text, and an unticked “I don’t want offers” box on bookings, online and QR checkout and gift vouchers.
• One list per restaurant with each guest’s choice, the wording they saw and when; a no always stays a no.
• Before every campaign you see who is left out and why.
• Built-in limits: two emails and one text a week per guest, texts 9am to 8pm, guests inactive for six months left out.
• One-click unsubscribe in mail apps and STOP for texts.

Sources ​

• ICO, How do we comply with the PECR electronic mail marketing rules?: consent, no pre-ticked boxes, the soft opt-in (selling or negotiating, similar products, refusal when the details are collected and in every message; not in an order confirmation, not hidden in a privacy policy).
• ICO, How should we obtain, record and manage consent?: records of who, when, how and what they were told; no set time limit.
• ICO, Respect people’s preferences: stopping when someone objects or withdraws.
• ICO, Statement on the commencement of the Data (Use and Access) Act: from 5 February 2026, higher PECR penalties (up to £17.5 million).

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your own business, see the ICO’s guidance or ask a data protection adviser.