A rallying cry has been issued to businesses and shoppers in the bid to revitalise Braintree town centre.

Rob Ely, owner of the Chophouse restaurant in New Street, has taken over the reins of the Braintree Town Partnership, an organisation which brings together the council and businesses.

Now an action plan is being drawn up to tackle the town centre’s woes, and Mr Ely, 37, says everyone must be willing to play their part.

He said: “We have got to change and I would not have taken the post if I did not think we could do it.

“This needs everyone to pull in the right direction. We are a good size town and we are steeped in history. There is so much character in Braintree.

“It is about finding the shining lights of the town and pushing them to the forefront.

“Braintree should be a cool place, but at the moment it is the opposite of cool.”

No businesses turned up to the partnership’s first meeting at the end of June, and Mr Ely admits there is a long way to go to change people’s perceptions of the town centre.

He said: “At the moment people are cutting their nose off to spite their face when they are knocking the town centre.

“There is so much going for the town and people need to give it a break and stop going on about how bad it is.

“Braintree is in an unbelievable location. The central line is an hour away, 20 minutes is Stansted, and five minutes away is some of the most beautiful countryside in the region.

“As much as they don’t want to and would prefer to go somewhere like Chelmsford, we need people spending cash in Braintree.

“If everybody within three or four miles chose to come to Braintree town things would improve.”

Braintree high street has been blighted by store closures over recent years, with the loss of Townrow department store a particularly big blow to town centre trade.

But Mr Ely believes there is still enough out there to draw people in to Braintree, if it is brought to people’s attention.

He said: “We are not going to compete with Chelmsford or Freeport and we should not try to. Let us focus on having quirky little shops and places offering good food.

“We need to focus on making Braintree town centre somewhere people want to go again.

“We simply need to get people coming into the town to spend money.

“The population is big enough to make the town really special. The ingredients are there but it needs work.”

Mr Ely has secured the backing of MP James Cleverly, who has promised to help however he can.

Braintree Council has also vowed to work closely with businesses on implementing improvements to boost trade.

Tom Cunningham, of the council, said: “Since 2017 we have met regularly with businesses and in May Rob formally took up the role of chair of the Braintree Town Partnership, something we are very excited about because of Rob’s drive, ideas and passion for Braintree and what it could become.

“Most importantly it means that we are all working together.

“Braintree has huge potential and we are looking forward to supporting Rob and the partnership as we work to make the town a destination more people want to visit.”