BUILT FOR SPEED
Behind the scenes, we’ve been working on several large-scale property projects that are being completed impressively faster than industry standards. Following a positive response to the concept from clients and intermediaries, as well as growing market buzz about the service, the time is right to put this new service in the spotlight.
RedBook FastTrack is a new approach designed to accelerate the speed at which a property project is completed, in some cases, by up to 30% faster. It’s promising to be a game-changing service for the super-prime property industry. To achieve such impressive time savings on a project, we’ve created a unique process incorporating over 45 robust acceleration techniques and 25 delay-mitigation strategies, all compiled and itemised in the FastTrack Playbook.
While we spearheaded the concept, FastTrack is a collaborative effort across our vast network of leading property industry professionals. Together, we have spent two years building and finessing the details, drawing on our collective knowledge and know-how of designing and delivering luxury property projects to the highest of standards.
RedBook FastTrack is designed for significant clients whose prime concern is time; we don’t take our promise to deliver a project at speed lightly. Due to the extremely high level of professional expertise required to accelerate a project and the select number of firms with the capacity to deliver against the brief, FastTrack is only available for a limited number of large-scale, high-value projects each year.
Spotting gaps in the market
When RedBook was launched as a consultancy nearly 15 years ago, the focus was on assembling the perfect professional team to meet each client’s project needs. In response to demand, our scope of work has grown, and we have expanded to become overall project directors. FastTrack is the culmination of all our experience in team assembly and project delivery.
No one has attempted to create a service like FastTrack before, because no other firm enjoys our privileged position as the nexus of over 150 companies representing the finest property-project talent in Britain. To formulate our FastTrack Playbook, we leveraged this unique position by convening in-depth cross-disciplinary workshops, where our professional partner firms generously shared their insights and experience, to remove air gaps for idle time and iron out the many inefficiencies in the traditional residential project journey. This wealth of experience, along with RedBook’s knowledge of delivering over 350 projects, has been pored over painstakingly to refine our streamlined process for fast-forwarding projects.
FastTrack pivots on collaboration between RedBook, the design and delivery team and the client, all of whom commit to the shared goal of accelerating the project. To help bolster and underpin this collaboration, we’ve created a set of principles and expectations to which all the key parties working on a FastTrack project sign up at the very outset. It’s known as the FastTrack Charter.
The FastTrack Charter has been established by Aidan Mortimer in his role as Director of FastTrack Projects. His insight and experience have underpinned the process of bringing FastTrack to life. Having run a super-prime construction firm for 30 years and expedited projects internationally, particularly in the US, he has a deep understanding of how to deliver high-end projects with demanding deadlines.
There’s another crucial cog on the wheel: clients who commission a FastTrack project are supported from first to last by one of RedBook’s exceptionally experienced client representatives, who have the knowledge and ability to successfully navigate high-end property projects through the various stages and across the finish line, ensuring the client makes informed, timely decisions. These include our latest recruit and Director of Client Services, Roberta Castellazzi, who, like most of the RedBook team, is a fully qualified architect who has also worked as a client representative on behalf of international families on large-scale and ambitious property projects in the UK and the Continent.
It’s this combination of commitment to timely decision-making, together with our Charter of shared goals and our unique Playbook, that ensures we can deliver projects for clients at maximum speed without compromising on quality.
Down to the cost
A FastTrack project comes at a premium, but a modest one: an accelerated project costs circa 10% more than standard. The uplift predominantly covers increased fees for professionals and contractors, in recognition of the extra resources and prioritisation required across the board to deliver a FastTrack project.
However, this extra cost is offset, to some degree, by the time saved compared to undertaking a standard-length project. For example, it limits the amount of time clients need to rent alternative accommodation and avoids lengthy exposure to any potential inflationary impact on the cost of project materials.
We are genuinely excited to be announcing RedBook FastTrack to the world. For some time, buyers in the super-prime property market have shown a strong preference for turnkey properties over unmodernised ones. Their biggest concern is the length of time it takes to make the improvements or build anew. FastTrack is the ideal solution.
Our Partners’ Views on FastTrack
“We’re currently working on a FastTrack project with RedBook, and it’s clear this service is a game-changer. The ability to accelerate timelines without compromising quality is impressive. The speed of decision-making and the seamless collaboration between teams are driving the project forward, making it faster and more efficient for everyone involved.”
Marek Wojciechowski, Principal, Marek Wojciechowski Architects
“Accelerating a large and complex architectural project is not easy. Of course, doing so comes with risks, too. But the technical rigour of RedBook’s FastTrack service, and its management of key variables in project timelines, looks sure to achieve major time savings.“
Ross Sharpe, Director, Yiangou Architects
“The world of luxury projects, and clients themselves, have been crying out for a way to accelerate their property projects. The FastTrack service responds to a specific need. RedBook has approached the development of its FastTrack service with exemplary care.”
David Savage, Partner, Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
“What you need in any luxury project is a great collaboration between members of the professional team, including the architects, the contractors, the project manager, and all the other consultants, not forgetting the interior designer, of course. And when the aim is to complete a project at speed, collaboration is even more critical. So, the fact that all project-team members working on a FastTrack project are required to sign up to a special Charter, with collaboration at its heart, is one of the keys to its success.”
Sophie Ashby, Founder and Creative Director, Studio Ashby
RedBook’s Inside View on FastTrack
“During my 40-year-long career in prime residential construction, no one has successfully managed to bring something like FastTrack to life. It’s highly ambitious and has taken two years of commitment and collaboration across our Partners to establish the fundamental rules of engagement. To see FastTrack projects now meeting these exacting delivery targets is a testament to what is possible when all three parties—RedBook, the design-and-delivery team and the client—move forward on a project with precision focus and purpose.”
Aidan Mortimer, Director of FastTrack, RedBook
“Through FastTrack, we’ve already achieved what seems like the impossible by accelerating projects through each stage of the property project journey. Only this week, we’ve submitted a detailed pre-app proposing plans to renovate (and rebuild, in parts) a very large listed house within six weeks of the project team being appointed. After all the hours we’ve spent fine-tuning the Charter and PlayBook, it’s so rewarding to see the impact of our collaborative approach coming together in real time.”
Sandy Mitchell, Founder, RedBook
