Guide
Buying UK restaurant contact data: what to look for
Restaurant contact data ranges from carefully verified records to a scrape of venue phone lines dressed up in a spreadsheet, and the price tag rarely tells you which one you are buying. This guide covers the five checks that separate the two, the questions to put to any vendor including us and the red flags that should end a conversation early.
What to check
Five checks before you buy
Coverage that matches your territory
A national headline number tells you nothing about your patch. What matters is depth in the cities and segments your team actually works: independents versus chains, quick service versus full service, the postcodes your reps drive. Ask every vendor for a cut of one specific city you know well and sanity check it against venues you could name from memory.
Watch for datasets padded with closed venues. Hospitality turns over quickly, so a list that has not dropped closures recently will burn your reps' time on disconnected numbers and empty units.
Verification at the record, not the list
A list level accuracy score hides the rows that are wrong. The question to ask is what the vendor stands behind on each individual record: is the owner name verified on that record, is the dial verified on that record and when was each last checked.
Honest vendors qualify their claims. Owner names and direct dials exist where they can be identified and verified, not on every row of every dataset. A vendor claiming a named owner and mobile on one hundred percent of records is describing a dataset that does not exist, and that overclaim will surface in your connect rates.
PECR and TPS compliance, in writing
If your team dials the data, UK calling rules apply to you, not just the vendor. Numbers registered on the TPS or CTPS must not be cold called, so ask whether records are screened against both registers before delivery, whether the screening status is visible per record and how the vendor supports the re-screen PECR expects before each campaign, since TPS registrations change over time.
Also ask on what lawful basis the data is supplied under UK GDPR, whether the vendor is ICO registered as a controller and whether the paperwork behind that supply is in order. A vendor who cannot answer those questions in writing is transferring their risk to you.
Delivery your team will actually use
Data that sits in an unusable format is money spent on nothing. Check the delivery options against how your team works: a portal your reps can filter, CSV exports with clean column headers that import into Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive or whatever CRM you run and an API if you want records flowing into your own systems.
Be sceptical of promises that require an integration project before anyone makes a call. The test is simple: how many working days from signature to a rep dialling a record.
Refresh, and what refresh actually means
Every vendor says refreshed. Pin down what that means: how often closures are removed, how often new openings are added and whether verification is redone over time or the record just carries its original check forever. In a market where venues open and close constantly, a dataset refreshed on a rolling cycle is the difference between working today's market and last year's.
Ask how refreshes reach you. If updates require a new purchase or a manual re export every time, the refresh exists on the vendor's servers, not in your pipeline.
The checklist
Nine questions to put to any vendor
Including us. A good vendor answers all nine without hedging.
- 01Can I see a sample cut of a specific city I choose?
- 02Which fields are verified on each record, and when was each last checked?
- 03What share of records carry an owner name and a direct dial, and how do you qualify that?
- 04Are numbers screened against both TPS and CTPS before delivery?
- 05Is the screening status visible per record, and how do re-screens work after delivery?
- 06Are you ICO registered, and is the data lawfully supplied under UK GDPR?
- 07How do closures leave the dataset and how do new openings arrive?
- 08How is the data delivered, and what does a CRM import actually involve?
- 09Can I run a paid pilot on my own territory before an annual commitment?
Walk away when
Three red flags
Everything on every record
Owner mobiles on one hundred percent of rows is not how real data works. Where identified and where verified is the honest shape of any contact dataset.
Compliance as your problem
If TPS screening is left entirely to you, the vendor is shipping numbers they have not checked. Screening before delivery should be the default, not an add on.
No sample, no pilot
A vendor confident in their coverage will show you your own patch before you sign. Refusing a sample is an answer in itself.
Where we fit
How Peach Data answers the same checklist
Peach Data operates across the UK, Europe and Australia, proven deepest in the UK, which is what this guide covers. We built Peach Data around the checks above because they are the ones that decide whether a dataset gets worked or shelved. Records carry a named owner or operator where we can identify one and a direct dial where it can be verified, stated exactly that way because that is the honest shape of contact data. Every UK number is screened against the TPS and CTPS registers before delivery with the screening status shown per record, data is lawfully supplied under UK GDPR and Peach Data is registered with the ICO.
Delivery is a portal your team can filter, CSV exports that import straight into Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive or any CRM that takes a spreadsheet and a pull API. The dataset refreshes on a rolling cycle so closures drop out and new openings land. The standard behind each record is on our methodology page and the full compliance detail is on our compliance page.
And the first question on the checklist applies to us too: pick a city you know and judge the records against it.
Guide FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when buying UK restaurant contact data?
Five things: coverage that matches your specific territory rather than a national headline number, verification at the level of each record, TPS and CTPS screening before delivery with UK GDPR paperwork to match, delivery formats your team will actually use such as CSV and CRM ready exports and a refresh cycle that removes closures and adds new openings. Test any vendor with a sample cut of a city you know well.
Is it legal to buy restaurant contact data in the UK?
Yes, B2B contact data can be lawfully supplied in the UK. The supplier should be ICO registered, supply the data lawfully under UK GDPR and be able to state its lawful basis. If your team will call the records, PECR applies: numbers on the TPS or CTPS registers must not be cold called, so screening before delivery and re-screening before campaigns matter.
What is TPS and CTPS screening?
The Telephone Preference Service and Corporate Telephone Preference Service are the UK's official do not call registers for individuals, sole traders and corporate lines. Under PECR, businesses must not make unsolicited marketing calls to registered numbers. Screening means checking every number against both registers, and because registrations change over time, lists need screening again before each campaign.
Should every record have an owner name and direct dial?
No, and a vendor claiming that should raise a flag. In honest contact datasets owner names exist where they can be identified and direct dials where they can be verified. Peach Data qualifies its records exactly that way, so what you see marked as verified is what we stand behind.
How is restaurant contact data usually delivered?
The common formats are a filtered CSV export, a web portal and an API. CSV with standard column headers is the fastest route into Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive or any CRM that imports a spreadsheet. Peach Data delivers through a portal, CSV export and a pull API.
How often should restaurant data be refreshed?
Venues open and close constantly, so the dataset should refresh on a rolling cycle rather than an annual rebuild. Ask any vendor how closures leave the dataset, how new openings arrive and whether refreshes reach you automatically or require a new purchase.
Can I try restaurant data before committing to a contract?
A credible vendor will show you records for your own territory before you sign. Peach Data walks you through sample records on the demo, so you pick the cities and judge coverage, owner names and screening status before buying.
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