Majority of UK businesses concerned about GDPR compliance

The findings, from an annual survey by Royal Mail Data Services, has revealed that 43% have also expressed concerns about data sourced from third party providers. 

The report has also found that 28% of organisations have no plans to approach customers for fresh permission to market to them, and 20% don't know if they will take this step. Eighteen per cent said they had already started to implement ‘repermissioning’ campaigns.

Furthermore, the report revealed a decrease of nine percentage points in the use of external sources of customer contact data, from 56% in 2014 to 47% in 2016. According to Royal Mail Data Services, this means that marketers are ‘missing out on compliant and permissioned third party data sources and data quality management services'. 

"With less than 12 months in which to comply with the GDPR, I urge all organisations to get moving with their repermissioning campaigns and compliance programmes," said Jim Conning, managing director of Royal Mail Data Services.

"Managing customer contact data is a complex business, so it’s worth seeking expert advice to ensure future marketing communications are compliant with the new laws."

Guidance on how to prepare for the GDPR can be found here.