Notices, announcements, memos and press releases - Business Communications

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1. Notices
2. Circulars
3. Memorandum (memo)
4. Announcements
5. Press release
How this is examined

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The examinable core. The January 2026 100-mark paper asked for “a press release to announce the decision of your company to change its name and commence a new business” as part of the compulsory question. Notices and announcements are in the syllabus and turn up as drafting exercises. Learn one model of each and the legal points a company notice must carry.

1. Notices

A notice is a formal written communication giving information or a direction to a group of persons: employees, members of a company, or the public. It is brief, dated, signed by an authorised person and placed where the readers will see it (notice board, newspaper, e-mail, the company’s website).

Notice of a general meeting of a company. Under the Companies Act, 2013:

a general meeting is called by at least 21 clear days’ notice in writing or by electronic mode (s. 101(1)); shorter notice is valid if consented to by at least 95% of the members entitled to vote;
the notice must state the place, date, day and hour of the meeting and the business to be transacted (s. 101(2));
special business must be explained in an explanatory statement (s. 102);
the annual general meeting must be held within six months of the end of the financial year, and not more than fifteen months after the previous one (s. 96);
a Board meeting needs at least seven days’ written notice to every director (s. 173(3)).

Model: notice of AGM (imaginary details)

SAHYADRI AGRO FOODS LIMITED
CIN: U15400KA2010PLC0xxxxx · Regd. Office: 22 Mill Road, Mysuru – 570 001

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that the Fifteenth Annual General Meeting of the members of Sahyadri Agro Foods Limited will be held on Monday, 28 September 2026, at 11.00 a.m. at the registered office, 22 Mill Road, Mysuru, to transact the following business:
Ordinary business: (1) to receive, consider and adopt the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026, with the reports of the Board and the Auditors; (2) to declare a dividend; (3) to appoint a director in place of Mr. S. Gowda, who retires by rotation and offers himself for re-appointment.
Special business: (4) to consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolution as a special resolution: “RESOLVED that the name of the Company be changed to Sahyadri Foods and Wellness Limited …”

A member entitled to attend and vote may appoint a proxy, who need not be a member. Proxy forms must reach the registered office not less than 48 hours before the meeting.

By order of the Board, (signature) P. Rao, Company Secretary
Mysuru, 25 August 2026

Office notice: headed “NOTICE”, a reference number and date, a short heading, the message in two or three sentences, and signature and designation. Example: “All staff are informed that the office will remain closed on 2 October 2026 on account of Gandhi Jayanti.”

2. Circulars

A circular is a letter or notice sent in identical form to many persons: customers, dealers, shareholders or branches. Circulars announce the opening of a branch, a change of address, admission of a partner, a price revision, a new product. It should be attractive, brief and personal in tone despite being addressed to many.

3. Memorandum (memo)

A memo is a short internal communication between departments or persons in the same organisation. It has no salutation or complimentary close, and uses headings:

MEMORANDUM
To: All Branch Managers · From: General Manager (Operations)
Date: 3 November 2026 · Ref: OPS/MEMO/44
Subject: Submission of monthly sales reports

From December 2026, monthly sales reports must be uploaded to the intranet by the fifth working day of the following month, in the revised format attached. Late reports will be shown as nil in the regional review. Please brief your staff.

(initials)

4. Announcements

An announcement tells the public or a target group of an event or change: opening of a showroom, launch of a product, change of address, appointment of a new chief executive, results of a company. It may be a newspaper advertisement, a circular, a social-media post or a press release. It must state what, when and where, and give a contact.

5. Press release

A press (news) release is a written statement issued by an organisation to newspapers, TV channels and news websites, in the hope that they will publish it as news. Its parts:

the words “PRESS RELEASE” and “For immediate release” (or an embargo time);
a short, factual headline;
dateline: place and date;
lead paragraph answering who, what, when, where and why;
body with details and a quotation from a senior official;
boilerplate: a short “About the company” paragraph;
media contact; and “###” or “– Ends –”.

Write it in the third person, as a journalist would, with the most important fact first.

Model: change of name and commencement of a new business

PRESS RELEASE · For immediate release

Sahyadri Agro Foods to become Sahyadri Foods and Wellness Limited; enters packaged health foods

Mysuru, 30 September 2026: The shareholders of Sahyadri Agro Foods Limited, the Mysuru-based processor of millets and spices, have approved a change of the company’s name to Sahyadri Foods and Wellness Limited at the Annual General Meeting held on 28 September 2026. The new name will take effect when the Registrar of Companies issues a fresh certificate of incorporation.

The company will also begin manufacturing ready-to-eat millet health foods from a new unit at Nanjangud, with an investment of Rs. 40 crore and about 300 jobs. Commercial production is expected from April 2027.

“The new name reflects what our customers now buy from us,” said Mr. S. Gowda, Managing Director. “Millets are our strength, and the new unit takes them to the health-food shelf.”

The change of name does not affect the company’s rights and obligations, existing contracts or legal proceedings. Shareholders need not exchange their share certificates.

About the company: Sahyadri Agro Foods Limited was incorporated in 2010 and sells under the “Sahyadri” brand in South India.
Media contact: P. Rao, Company Secretary, 0821-2xxxxxx, media@sahyadri.example
– Ends –

The law behind the model. Under s. 13 of the Companies Act, 2013 a company changes its name by a special resolution with the approval of the Central Government (exercised through the Registrar). Under s. 13(3) the change is complete and effective only when the Registrar issues a fresh certificate of incorporation. A change of name does not create a new company: the same legal person continues, so its rights, obligations, contracts and pending proceedings are unaffected (the rule was stated expressly in s. 23(3) of the Companies Act, 1956). Commencing a business outside the objects clause would also need an alteration of the objects by special resolution (s. 13(1)).

How this is examined

The press release came as an option in the compulsory 20-mark question of the January 2026 100-mark paper. Notices, circulars and announcements are drafting exercises; a memo is a frequent alternative. Write the format headings in bold, keep the content factual, and add one or two lines on the law where a company is involved: 21 days’ notice, special resolution, new certificate of incorporation.