GDPR
UK GDPR Essentials for Small Businesses
The rules, the paperwork and the habits that keep a small organisation compliant.
- Format
- Length
- 18 pages
- Edition
- 1st edition, November 2026
- Published
- 2 November 2026
- Publisher
- Data Menu
About
About this guide
A plain-English guide to UK GDPR for small businesses. It explains the seven principles, how to choose and record a lawful basis, what a privacy notice must say, how to handle people's rights, what good security looks like, and where marketing and cookies fit under PECR and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
It finishes with a 30-day action plan and a final checklist. Includes templates for a legitimate interests assessment, a privacy notice and a supplier check.
General educational guidance written by Data Menu. It is not legal advice.
Contents
What is inside
- What UK data protection law is, and who it coversWho is covered, the four laws that matter, and what counts as personal datap. 4
- The seven principlesThe principles with a practical test for eachp. 6
- Choosing and recording a lawful basisThe lawful bases, legitimate interests and consentp. 7
- Being transparent: privacy noticesWhat a privacy notice must say, with a skeletonp. 9
- People's rightsThe rights and the deadlinesp. 11
- Security and suppliersA sensible security baseline and supplier contractsp. 12
- Records, risk assessments and feesRecords, DPIAs and the data protection feep. 14
- Marketing, cookies and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025PECR, soft opt-in, cookies and the 2025 Actp. 15
- When things go wrong, and your 30-day planBreaches, complaints and a 30-day planp. 17
Audience
Who it is for
- Small business owners
- Office and operations managers
- Anyone responsible for personal data without a legal background
Delivery. After payment you can download the PDF straight away, and we email you a personal link to the same page. Each purchase is a single download, so please save the file somewhere safe when it arrives. If a download is interrupted, you can retry from that page for a few minutes. Our guides are practical, educational material. They are not legal advice. If you need advice on your own situation, speak to a qualified adviser.