Date
- Dates in running text: use this format: 1 January 2024 – cardinal numbers, not ordinal numbers. (1 not 1st (or 1st), etc.) Cardinal numbers are easier on the eye and don’t clutter the screen.
- Dates in lists of documents and in tables: 01 Jan 2024.
Time
- Times in running text: 12-hour clock with colon, followed by “am” or “pm” lower case, no space, no punctuation: 9:05am; 4:00pm. No leading zero on single-hour figures in the 12-hour clock.
- Times in lists, schedules and timetables are better expressed in 24-hour clock format, consistently: 09:05; 16:00. Leading zero on single-hour figures in the 24-hour clock.
Addresses
Write an address line by line with no comma at the end of each line.
Foreign place names
Use the English name for a country. For a town, city or region, if there is an established English name for it, use the English name in running text.
Example: We have an office in Munich.
When writing the full street address of a place in a foreign country, use the English name for the country but write the city name etc. in the local language, even if there’s an English name for it in general use. Replicate the capitalisation and any accented letters.
Example:
Marienplatz 8
Neues Rathaus
80331 München
Germany
Note that in most European countries the postcode comes before the city name, on the same line. It looks odd to a local if written the other way round in the style of a UK postcode.