Use of pp

[John Preston]

is the use of pp before the person actually signing the letter or infront of the 'Normal person' signing

 

[stuartnz]

I'm not a teacher, but I sign a lot of letters "PP", and it is always in front of the name of the person or body corporate on whose behalf I'm signing, never in front of my own name. So, "S.J. Martin pp 'my boss'"

 

[David L.]

The practice in the places where I have worked differs to what stuartnz suggested, so I thought I'd better check up on this:
A common usage of per procurationem occurs in business letters, which are often signed on behalf of another person. For example, given a secretary authorized to sign a letter on behalf of the president of a company, the signature takes the form:
p.p. Secretary's Signature
President's Name
or
President's Name
p.p. Secretary's Signature
Commonly in practice, an alternative form is used:
Secretary's Signature
p.p. President's Name
The correct usage is the subject of some debate; largely depending on whether one interprets per procurationem as "through the agency of" or "on behalf of".
I know my secretary always put the p.p. before her name! The only answer to this one: see what the secretaries in your organization are doing!

 

[stuartnz]

The practice in the places where I have worked differs to what stuartnz suggested, so I thought I'd better check up on this:
A common usage of per procurationem occurs in business letters, which are often signed on behalf of another person. For example, given a secretary authorized to sign a letter on behalf of the president of a company, the signature takes the form:
p.p. Secretary's Signature
President's Name
or
President's Name
p.p. Secretary's Signature
Commonly in practice, an alternative form is used:
Secretary's Signature
p.p. President's Name
The correct usage is the subject of some debate; largely depending on whether one interprets per procurationem as "through the agency of" or "on behalf of".
I know my secretary always put the p.p. before her name!

Thanks for that, David. What makes this interesting is that the forms I sign are pre-printed with a line for a signature then "pp (company name)". That's why I figured it was standard practice. I guess the companies I work for have gone with the "on behalf of" definition.