Business letter: format and content (with template)

There are certain elements that should be included in all official business cor­res­pond­ence. What defines a business letter and what guidelines should you observe when writing them? Find out here.

What is a business letter?

A business letter is any formal written com­mu­nic­a­tion between two business entities or pro­fes­sion­als, addressed to a specific recipient or group of re­cip­i­ents. Business letters are used to establish, maintain, or manage business re­la­tion­ships and typically follow standard UK format­ting and content guidelines.

What purpose do business letters serve?

In the UK, business letters serve as a formal and pro­fes­sion­al means of com­mu­nic­a­tion between or­gan­isa­tions, clients, and stake­hold­ers. Their key purposes include:

• Proposals and offers
• Order con­firm­a­tions and enquiries
• Ac­know­ledge­ments of receipt
• Invoices and payment receipts
• Pricing lists
• Order forms
• Per­son­al­ised marketing letters (addressed to a named recipient)

The format of the letter—whether printed or digital (fax, email, etc.)—does not change its clas­si­fic­a­tion as a business letter. However, certain legal and in­form­a­tion­al re­quire­ments may apply depending on the business structure and context.

The following types of written com­mu­nic­a­tion are not clas­si­fied as business letters:

• Internal company cor­res­pond­ence (e.g., emails or memos between de­part­ments, branches, or sub­si­di­ar­ies)
• Mass marketing com­mu­nic­a­tions (e.g., direct mail, generic ad­vert­ising materials sent to large groups)
• Pre-filled business forms used in ongoing trans­ac­tions (e.g., delivery notes, shipping notices, or col­lec­tion no­ti­fic­a­tions)

Business letters fa­cil­it­ate com­mu­nic­a­tion in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) in­ter­ac­tions.

Business letters should be clearly dis­tin­guished from personal letters, which are intended for private, non-com­mer­cial com­mu­nic­a­tion.

Required in­form­a­tion for business letters

Business letters are used to establish contact and maintain pro­fes­sion­al re­la­tion­ships and there are legal re­quire­ments in the UK regarding the in­form­a­tion that must be included, depending on the business structure. To ensure clarity and pro­fes­sion­al­ism, standard company details should be provided, including:

• Company name (as re­gistered with Companies House)
• Business address
• Phone number & email address
• Website (if ap­plic­able)
• Date of the letter

Ad­di­tion­al details may be required based on business structure or industry reg­u­la­tions.

Sole traders

Business letters from sole traders should include:

• Business name (if trading under a different name, the owner’s full legal name must also appear)
• Business address
• Contact details (phone number, email)

If operating under a trading name (DBA – ‘Doing Business As’), the owner’s personal name must also be included on all official business cor­res­pond­ence.

Part­ner­ships (General & Limited Part­ner­ships)

Business letters from general part­ner­ships (GP) or limited part­ner­ships (LP, LLP) should include:

• Re­gistered business name
• Part­ner­ship des­ig­na­tion (e.g., LLP, LP)
• Principal place of business
• The names of all partners (or an in­dic­a­tion of where a list of partners can be found)

Limited Companies (Ltd)

For private limited companies (Ltd) and public limited companies (PLC), business letters must include:

• Company name (as re­gistered with Companies House)
• Legal entity des­ig­na­tion (e.g., Ltd, PLC)
• Re­gistered office address
• Company re­gis­tra­tion number (as issued by Companies House)
• VAT number (if ap­plic­able)

It’s important to know that if a company is in li­quid­a­tion, this must be stated in business cor­res­pond­ence.

How should a business letter look? Page structure and design

To ensure pro­fes­sion­al and effective com­mu­nic­a­tion, business letters in the UK should follow a stand­ard­ised format. While there is some flex­ib­il­ity, using a pro­fes­sion­al structure enhances cred­ib­il­ity and read­ab­il­ity since poorly formatted letters may appear un­pro­fes­sion­al and cause un­cer­tainty.

Page format

Business letters should be formatted on A4 paper (210 × 297 mm) in portrait ori­ent­a­tion. The re­com­men­ded page margins are:

• Top margin: 2.5 cm
• Bottom margin: 2.5 cm
• Left margin: 2.5 cm
• Right margin: 2 cm

Font and ty­po­graphy

There is no legally required font for business letters, but pro­fes­sion­al, easy-to-read fonts are re­com­men­ded. Common choices include:

• Arial
• Times New Roman
• Calibri
• Helvetica

The re­com­men­ded font size is 11 or 12 points for read­ab­il­ity. If using a custom corporate font, adjust the size to maintain legib­il­ity.

Let­ter­head design

A business let­ter­head typically includes:

• Company logo (optional but re­com­men­ded)
• Company name
• Business address
• Phone number, email, and website (if ap­plic­able)
• Company re­gis­tra­tion number (if ap­plic­able)
• VAT number (if ap­plic­able)

Logos and design elements should be placed at the top of the page, ensuring they do not interfere with read­ab­il­ity or printing.

Recipient address block

The recipient’s address should be formatted according to Royal Mail standards and placed two lines below the let­ter­head (or below the sender’s address if no let­ter­head is used).

Example:

John Smith Marketing Director ABC Cor­por­a­tion 123 Business Avenue London EC1A 1BB

Date placement

In UK business letters, the date is right-aligned and written in the following format:

• 20 March 2025 (Day Month Year, no commas)

The date should be one line below the sender’s address or two lines below the let­ter­head.

Subject line (optional)

A subject line is placed two lines below the recipient’s address and is usually bolded:

Subject: Proposal for Part­ner­ship Agreement

Sa­luta­tion (greeting)

The greeting is placed two lines below the subject line (or recipient’s address if no subject is used). Formal business cor­res­pond­ence typically uses:

• Dear [Recipient’s name],
• Dear Mr./Ms. [Last name],
• Dear Sir/Madam, (only if the recipient’s name is unknown)

For ongoing business re­la­tion­ships, a less formal approach may be used:

• Hello [Recipient’s name],
• Dear [First name],

The UK standard is to use a comma after the sa­luta­tion.

Letter body format­ting

The body text should be:

• Left-aligned
• Single-spaced
• Divided into short, clear para­graphs
• Separated by blank lines

If a letter exceeds one page, the footer should contain page numbers (e.g., ‘Page 2 of 3’).

Closing and signature

The closing phrase is placed two lines below the body text and is followed by the sender’s signature.

UK Closing Con­ven­tions:

• Yours sincerely, → When ad­dress­ing a specific named recipient
• Yours faith­fully, → When using ‘Dear Sir/Madam’

After the closing, leave three blank lines for the signature and then type the sender’s name and title:

Yours sincerely, [Signature] John Smith Marketing Director ABC Cor­por­a­tion

At­tach­ments & en­clos­ures

If ad­di­tion­al documents are included, an enclosure or at­tach­ment note should be placed one or two lines below the signature block:

En­clos­ures: Business Proposal, Contract Draft

Footer and contact details

The footer (if used) should contain:

• Company’s legal business name
• Re­gistered office address
• Company re­gis­tra­tion number (if ap­plic­able)
• VAT number (if ap­plic­able)
• Phone number and website

Example:

ABC Cor­por­a­tion Ltd | Re­gistered in England and Wales | Company No. 12345678 | VAT No. GB123456789 | Re­gistered Office: 123 Business Avenue, London EC1A 1BB | Tel: +44 (0)20 7946 0123 | email@abc.co.uk | www.abc.co.uk

Business letter – down­load­able template

Here you can find our business letter template as a Word file for download:

The dos and don’ts of writing a business letter

Dos

Be clear and concise

• Business letters, whether printed or emailed, should be direct and to the point.
• Most re­cip­i­ents receive multiple business com­mu­nic­a­tions daily, so ensure your message is brief, clear, and pur­pose­ful.
• Use a concise, relevant subject line for clarity.
• Business letters should not exceed one A4 page (210 × 297 mm) unless ab­so­lutely necessary.
• For complex in­form­a­tion (e.g., tables, figures, or invoice details), include at­tach­ments instead of over­load­ing the main letter.

Use a personal greeting

• Address the recipient per­son­ally whenever possible.
• If necessary, research the correct name and spelling of the contact person.
• If the recipient’s name is unknown, use a neutral but pro­fes­sion­al greeting, such as:
  • Dear Hiring Manager, (for job ap­plic­a­tions)
  • Dear Customer Service Team, (for customer enquiries)
  • Dear Sir/Madam, (if no specific contact is available)

Use a post­script (PS) stra­tegic­ally

• A post­script (PS) was tra­di­tion­ally used in hand­writ­ten letters but still serves a purpose in modern business writing.
• In a business letter, use a PS to highlight important in­form­a­tion or provide an extra note, such as:
  • A special offer or promotion
  • A website link for more details
  • A friendly reminder or follow-up request
• The PS should be brief and relevant to avoid dis­tract­ing from the main message.

Don’ts

Phrases and outdated for­mu­la­tions

Write business letters in a modern, recipient-focused style. Avoid clichéd phrases, formulaic blocks of text, or outdated ex­pres­sions. Use clear, direct language without un­ne­ces­sary em­bel­lish­ment.

Remember that your business cor­res­pond­ence reflects your company’s image. If you bore clients or partners with stale or bur­eau­crat­ic language, you miss an op­por­tun­ity to make a positive im­pres­sion. A well-written letter, tailored to the recipient, signals genuine interest and will be re­membered.

Spelling and grammar mistakes

Poor spelling, punc­tu­ation or grammar appears un­pro­fes­sion­al. This applies not only to the content but also to layout and structure. Always proofread your business letters carefully, or seek pro­fes­sion­al support if needed.

Negative language

Avoid using negative phrasing or un­ne­ces­sary negations. Even bad news can usually be conveyed more pos­it­ively. Focus on offering options rather than blocking the con­ver­sa­tion. ‘Let me look into that and get back to you shortly.’ sounds a lot more positive than ‘Un­for­tu­nately, I can’t answer that.’ It’s important to replace wording that sounds dis­missive or problem-focused with a friendly, con­struct­ive al­tern­at­ive—without sugar-coating the message.

Passive voice

Passive con­struc­tions often hide who is re­spons­ible and can come across as vague or unhelpful. Active voice makes your message clearer and more engaging.

Compare:

‘Your request will be processed as soon as possible.’

vs.

‘My colleague, Mr Smith, will process your request as soon as possible.’

The second version feels more personal and re­as­sur­ing because the reader knows who is taking re­spons­ib­il­ity.

Overly complex sentences

Long, con­vo­luted sentences hinder un­der­stand­ing and weaken com­mu­nic­a­tion. Replace tangled sentence struc­tures and excessive sub­or­din­ate clauses with clear, straight­for­ward state­ments.

Please note the legal dis­claim­er for this article.