The Sticker Factory, which provided stickers and rewards to help parents and teachers to motivate children in classrooms, has announced that it has ceased trading and is no longer accepting orders.

The liquidator McTear Williams & Wood was appointed on November 15 to wind up the company, which was run by Steven Laws, a former secondary school teacher, and his wife Vanessa Laws, from offices on Walnut Tree Lane in Sudbury.

The news comes shortly after Prolog, a company that employed almost 100 people in Sudbury, went into administration. And the Sudbury base of Delphi Diesel Systems has been earmarked for closure by mid-2020.

A statement on The Sticker Factory’s website said: “Due to the current economic climate, it is no longer possible for us to keep trading and we have made the difficult decision to close.

“But when one door closes another one opens, and a new Sticker Factory chapter will begin.

“You can still buy selected Sticker Factory products from the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) and KCS Education, and you can also find stamps, including custom stamps, with our designs on from our friends at Stamps Direct...

“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our amazing customers for their support over the last 21 years, it’s been a blast. We hope it’s not goodbye, just au revoir for now.”

Founded in 1997, the company provided merit stickers, rewards charts, praise notes and marking stampers to help encourage and motivate children.

All of its products were designed by company staff and sourced in the UK.

The Sticker Factory claimed to use local suppliers wherever possible, and to work hard to minimise packaging and waste.