Building Trust, Delivering Value: The Collaborative Foundation of the RedBook Index

Two weeks after the launch of the RedBook Index, we sat down with Stu Ashford ARB, Senior Project Guardian, to explore how this groundbreaking tool was created, the incredible collaboration with our Partners, and what it means for the future of the luxury project market.

You’ve been at the forefront of gathering data for the RedBook Index. What were some of the biggest challenges in collating this information, and how did you work with our Partners to overcome these?

Managing and nurturing 200+ relationships with some of the most reputable industry names is a unique privilege bestowed upon RedBook. As you can imagine, this is no small task. To request their data – and to the level of granularity we required in order to extract meaningful insights – was a lot to ask of them, but we were pleasantly surprised by the significant uptake across our Partner base. This is a testament to the enormity of what the Index can become and speaks volumes to the desire for such a platform across the industry. The formatting of the data collection exercise – broken into Phases A & B – underwent multiple iterations to ensure that, although it was a hefty piece of ‘homework’ for our Partners, it was as straightforward and manageable as possible to complete. Nevertheless, the RedBook team remained on hand to assist, answering any questions and queries throughout the process.?

You mentioned that the value of the Index for our Partners is one of the most important aspects for you. Can you elaborate on what this value looks like and how the Index benefits both our Partners and the wider industry?

When curating the Index, so much of its positioning focused on creating transparency to prospective clients and their advisors, who might be looking to embark on a property project. Whilst it is important for it to speak in layman’s terms, we were keen to ensure that it remained a genuine value-add to our Partners, whose data and collaboration made all of it possible in the first place. By way of a ‘thank you,’ we reserved a portion of our insights for all those ‘Founding Contributors,’ which we have tailored specifically for those practices and their businesses. This is framed as more of a benchmarking tool that reflects the industry average across a number of different business development considerations and business 'health metrics' and where that individual practice sits in comparison to their competitors.?

Can you give us a preview of what the 'Founding Contributors' tailored report will include and why it’s such an important part of the Partner experience?

The tailored Partner index reports capture even greater granularity surrounding the likes of practice income, expenditure, lead conversions and forecasting. We also delve into average industry salaries and hourly charge-out rates, which were overwhelmingly popular requests from our Partners. General practice health metrics and ESG considerations also form part of the personalised Partner reports. They offer an invaluable business development reference for practices that operate in the luxury sphere. For those who feel they’re underperforming against their competitors, RedBook offers a ‘helping hand’ to explore how best to identify untapped opportunities.?

As someone who has been deeply involved in this process, what unique insights have you gained about the super-prime property market that surprised you the most?

The architect and creative in me will rue the day I admit this, but the sheer power of data has blown me away. Its application in the prime and super-prime property sphere is a relatively untapped venture that RedBook is now spearheading. What surprised me most in this first iteration of the Index is just how flawed our Planning system is; its shortfalls were known anecdotally beforehand, but to see quantifiable metrics was a real wake-up call. The selection of experienced professionals with deep expertise in navigating the statutory process is truly paramount to avoid unnecessary delays and rejections.

The RedBook Index marks a significant step towards increased transparency in the luxury property sector. How do you see this transparency impacting the industry, and what do you hope the Index will achieve in the long term?

The best way I can answer this is by circling back to the three ‘core principles’ of the Index; 1. collaboration, to align all industry disciplines and have everybody ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’, so to speak; 2. simplicity, to make otherwise confusing and overwhelming project undertakings much easier to navigate, and; 3. transparency, in the interest of open and honest relationships between provider and client. Essentially, we’re hoping to make luxury project undertakings not only more palatable but a more enjoyable experience for all those involved. ?