Letters of congratulation

From the purely business angle a letter of congratulation is often required; an executive of a firm may have received some honour, or attained an important position, and should be congratulated.

It is important to remember that in Britain honours are conferred by the Sovereign twice a year, at the New Year and at the time of the Sovereign's official birthday in June. There are a good many business people among the recipients of such honours, which are given for services to the country.

The following are suitable phrases for such letters:

1. It was with great pleasure that we learnt of (your appointment) (your success)...

2. May we congratulate you on (your appointment) (your success)...

3. We wish to express our great pleasure on hearing of your...

4. It was with great pleasure that we read in the papers that you had received the... (name or honour conferred) and we want to congratulate you at once.

5. We were delighted to read in the papers that you had received the...

6. We should like to say that we feel it is a fitting reward for your work.

7. May we say that we think no one has done more to deserve this reward.

8. We want to send you our very good wishes.

9. May we express our sincere good wishes.

Letters of sympathy, condolence

These are usually called for on the death of an executive of another firm;

they are always difficult letters to write and much depends on how well the sympathisers know the people they are writing to. Again, such letters can be written from the angle of business rather than personal associa­tion.

It is not the custom in Britain to send out long announcements of deaths. A notice is put in the appropriate column of such papers as The Times, and in the case of companies the Chairman, in his report for the annual general meeting of shareholders, mentions the death or retire­ment of any members of the Board of Directors. However, letters would be written to regular business associates and especially to any who knew the director personally.

Something on the following lines would be written by the Secretary of the company:

[21] Letter announcing the death of a Chairman

You will, I know, be very sorry to hear of the sudden death of Sir James Brown, for thirty years Chairman of this company and a son of the founder of the business . . .

The following phrases would be suitable for the reply expressing sym­pathy:

10. We were deeply grieved (to hear) (to learn) of the sudden death of the Chairman of your company...

11. It was a great shock to hear the sad news of Sir James Brown's sudden death.

12. We are writing immediately to express our sincere sympathy.

13. We want to express our heartfelt sympathy...

14. All who knew him well remember his many kindnesses and his helpful advice.

15. Please (convey) (express) our sympathy also to his family.

A rather formal phrase is:

16. Please accept the expression of our deepest sympathy.

INVITATIONS

There are many occasions on which firms issue invitations, as do societies of various kinds. There are social gatherings for the members of the staff, especially during the Christmas and New Year season, and there are also official banquets as well as other activities.

The invitation is a formal one and printed cards are sent, usually with the following wording:

[22]

The Chairman and Directors of Marjoy Ltd.request the pleasure of your company at a Banquet to be held at the Great Hall, Western Avenue, Bournemouth at 8.30p.m. on Friday, 20th October, 1978.

R.S.V.P.

Evening Dress to the Secretary.

R.S.V.P. (= 'Repondez s'il vous plait') is always printed on such formal invitations; the wording on the left ensures that full 'evening dress' is worn by everyone. Sometimes wording on the left indicates the type of 'entertainment' provided for the guests; when this is done the wording such as at a Banquet to be held would be omitted. As an example, meetings are frequently organised for the early evening, between 6 and 8 o'clock, and in the bottom left-hand comer the word 'Cocktails' is printed.

The name of the company may be left out and printed at the top, or the bottom of the card.

The answer to such formal invitations is in the third person; the guest uses notepaper with the address already die-stamped at the head, or writes in his address, but no name and address of the firm appears, neither is the salutation 'Dear Sirs' used nor the ending 'Yours faithfully'. In fact the reply would look like this:

[23]

(There is no signature to this letter.)

If Mr John Smith is obliged to refuse the invitation, the wording of the last two lines would be: '. . . but regrets that he is unable to accept owing to a prior engagement on that (day) (evening).

Informal, personal invitations are, of course, written and answered in the same way as other private correspondence.