Imogen Hartwell-Shaw Personal Assistant London, SW11 4AX, United Kingdom [email protected] · +44 20 7946 0115
11 September 2026
Ms. Beatrix Arundale Private Client Placement Wren and Marlowe Private Staff London, United Kingdom
Application for Private Personal Assistant, London household
Dear Ms. Arundale,
I am writing about the private personal assistant role you are handling for a London-based family. I have spent six years with one principal and their family, covering a London residence and a country property, and my role has run across both business diary and private life since the first year.
The part of the work I would bring first is household administration. When I started, bills, insurance renewals and vehicle documents were held in four places and things were being missed. I consolidated everything onto one system with a single renewal calendar and a weekly reconciliation against the household card, which ended the repeat late payments and reduced annual insurance and utility spend by fourteen percent over two years. Alongside that I plan four to six international trips a year end to end, including visas and ground transport for up to five travelers, and I run the term and holiday calendars for the family.
Your brief mentions two residences and travel at short notice, which is the shape of my current role, and it mentions a household that is about to take on additional staff. I have coordinated rotas, holiday cover and payroll input for two support staff, and I would expect to spend the first months learning the household's own way of doing things rather than importing mine.
I hold an enhanced DBS certificate maintained on the Update Service, a full clean UK driving license and a valid passport with no travel restrictions, and I am available to travel at short notice. My current notice period is one month. References from former principals are available by arrangement at final stage. Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely, Imogen Hartwell-Shaw
Summary
A personal assistant cover letter is a one page letter that gives a private employer or an agency the four things they screen on: the setting you have worked in, how long you stayed, what you were trusted with, and when you can travel. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter and shows how to write it without naming anyone.
Personal Assistant cover letter examples by experience level
A personal assistant cover letter is a one page letter written to answer four screening questions: what kind of setting you have worked in, how long you stayed, what you were trusted with, and how available you are.
It is a different letter from the corporate one, and the difference is the naming problem. A marketing manager can write "at Unilever I did X". You cannot, and the letter has to be persuasive anyway.
Guide to a personal assistant cover letter
This guide and the corresponding personal assistant cover letter example will cover:
- How to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- How to write about a private employer without identifying them
- What an agency reads for in the first ten seconds
- The clearance and availability facts that belong in the closing paragraph
- Openings and closings that work, and the ones that lose the file
How to write a personal assistant cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The role, your setting, your tenure | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | One thing you ran outright, with a number and a period | 4 to 5 sentences |
| Fit | What their posting implies, and what you would bring first | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | Clearances, driving, travel availability, notice period | 2 to 3 sentences |
Lead with the setting and the tenure, not with the adjectives
An agency consultant reading private staff applications is sorting for two things before anything else: have you done this kind of household, and did you stay.
So the first sentence should carry both. "I have spent six years with one principal and family across two UK residences" tells a consultant more than a paragraph about being discreet, loyal and unflappable, and it does so without identifying anybody.
If your tenure is short because a family relocated, a role was fixed term, or a household closed, say so in a single clause. Private employment ends for ordinary reasons and an unexplained gap invites a worse assumption than the truth.
A personal assistant cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Arundale,
I am writing about the private personal assistant role you are handling for a London-based family. I have spent six years with one principal and their family, covering a London residence and a country property, and my role has run across both business diary and private life since the first year.
The part of the work I would bring first is household administration. When I started, bills, insurance renewals and vehicle documents were held in four places and things were being missed. I consolidated everything onto one system with a single renewal calendar and a weekly reconciliation against the household card, which ended the repeat late payments and reduced annual insurance and utility spend by fourteen percent over two years. Alongside that I plan four to six international trips a year end to end, including visas and ground transport for up to five travelers, and I run the term and holiday calendars for the family.
Your brief mentions two residences and travel at short notice, which is the shape of my current role, and it mentions a household that is about to take on additional staff. I have coordinated rotas, holiday cover and payroll input for two support staff, and I would expect to spend the first months learning the household's own way of doing things rather than importing mine.
I hold an enhanced DBS certificate maintained on the Update Service, a full clean UK driving license and a valid passport with no travel restrictions, and I am available to travel at short notice. My current notice period is one month. References from former principals are available by arrangement at final stage. Thank you for your time.
That letter names nobody, identifies no property and discloses no sector, yet it gives a consultant six years of tenure, two residences, a measured result, staff coordination, three clearances and a notice period.
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am writing to apply for the position of Personal Assistant advertised on your website. | I am writing about the private personal assistant role you are handling for a London-based family. |
| I am an extremely discreet and loyal professional with a passion for supporting others. | I have spent six years with one principal and their family across two UK residences. |
| I have worked for a very high-profile client whose name I cannot disclose. | My current role runs across business diary and private life, including household finance and family logistics. |
| I am available to start immediately and would love the opportunity to discuss. | I am available to travel at short notice and my current notice period is one month. |
The third row is the one to watch. Hinting at a famous employer is the single most common mistake in private applications and the fastest way to be filtered out, because it demonstrates exactly the behavior the household is trying to avoid.
Writing about a private employer without identifying them
Use categories, not identities. A private employer becomes "one principal and their family". A property becomes "a London residence and a country property". A business becomes "the principal's private office" or "a family-owned business". Staff become "two support staff" or "nine private staff including housekeeping, drivers and grounds".
Do the same with results. "Reduced annual insurance and utility spend by fourteen percent" is a real figure that identifies nothing. "Managed a household budget of over two million pounds" identifies a great deal and should not be written down.
If the reader needs more, they will ask at interview, under a confidentiality agreement, which is the correct place for it.
Put the clearances in the closing paragraph, not the opening
Background check, driving license, passport, travel availability and notice period are the facts that convert interest into an interview, so they belong where the reader is deciding what to do next.
Four short clauses are enough: the check and that it is on the Update Service, the license, the passport and travel availability, and the notice period. Put right to work or visa status here too if you are applying across borders.
If you do not yet hold an enhanced check, say that you are eligible and willing to obtain one immediately. In the United Kingdom a private individual cannot apply for one on your behalf, so a candidate who takes that step themselves removes real friction from the process.
Length, format and sending it
One page, four paragraphs, 280 to 380 words. Plain single column text, no photograph, no letterhead graphics. Send it as a PDF with a neutral file name made of your own name and the year, and strip the document metadata first, because author and company fields often carry a former employer's name.
Address the agency consultant by name where you have one. Where the advertisement is anonymous, "Dear Sir or Madam" is acceptable in the British private staff market and "To Whom It May Concern" is not.
Open with your setting and your tenure. Give one result with a number and a period. Describe access alongside its control, such as a card with a weekly reconciliation. Put clearances, driving, travel availability and notice in the closing paragraph. Say references are available by arrangement at final stage.
Do not hint at a famous or wealthy employer. Do not name a family, a property, a school or a sector. Do not state a household budget figure. Do not print referees' contact details. Do not write a letter made entirely of adjectives about your own character.
Key takeaways for a personal assistant cover letter
- Lead with the setting and the tenure in the first two sentences.
- Prove one thing you ran outright, with a number and a period.
- Name nobody: employer, family, property, school or sector.
- Describe trust as access plus a control, not as a character trait.
- Close with the check, the license, the passport, availability and notice.
- Keep it to one page, as a PDF with neutral metadata.
Pair the letter with a matching personal assistant resume, and build both in 15 minutes.
Personal assistant cover letter questions, answered
How long should a personal assistant cover letter be?
One page, four paragraphs, 280 to 380 words. Agencies read a great many of these and the useful content is the setting, the tenure, one result and the clearances. Anything longer buries them.
How do I write a cover letter for a private role without naming my employer?
Replace identities with categories: one principal and their family, a London residence and a country property, nine private staff. Give results as percentages and counts rather than absolute sums, and say that a confidentiality agreement was in place. That reads as professionalism, not as concealment.
Should the letter mention that I have signed a confidentiality agreement?
One clause is enough, and it is worth including. It tells the reader that you understand the arrangement and it explains why the letter is written in categories rather than names. Do not describe the agreement's terms.
What do I write if I am moving from a corporate PA role into private service?
Say so directly and translate the overlap: diary ownership, inbox gatekeeping, complex international travel and expense reconciliation all transfer. Then name what would be new for you, such as household finance or staff coordination, and say how you would approach learning it. Agencies place career changers regularly, but not ones who pretend the gap is not there.
Do I send a cover letter to an agency or only to the household?
Send it to the agency. The consultant is the reader who decides whether your file is put forward, and in most private searches you will never write directly to the household at all. Write the letter for the consultant, and assume it will be forwarded intact.