Didn’t really know where to put this for the quickest reply but decided on CB :-)
I want to write to my employer, as in the store manager of the supermarket I work at, on behalf of the local club I belong to. It will basically ask if we can come along on two specific Saturdays to publicise our productions.
Should I write to him using his first name, which we as employees use or should I write with Mr What-sit?
I'd use first name.
I remember once ringing the MD of my company (big company) and called him "Mr...." even though he was always referred to by his first name. I think he thought i was being funny with him.
As an aside, in my first job, for many years I called my boss Mr James. (There was only the two of us in that department.). Eventually, rather worryingly, he put his hand on my arm and said "You can call me Peter".
There used to be some formality in summer holiday warehousing type jobs when I was student - everyone was called by first names apart from the foremen who were "Mr...".
By the time I started work for real in the 1980s everyone used first names (the only exception being the person who looked after the canteen- he was called Mr + his Christian name).
But now I'm in teaching, the students obviously call me by my surname or Sir; and teachers have to remember to refer to each other or call each other by their surname (or Sir/Miss) too in any situation where pupils may hear them. In fact I don't know the first name of many teachers I work with.