Anita Oosterbeek supervised three CAPEX projects simultaneously for NewCold

In March 2025, MPM’er Anita Oosterbeek delivered the third high-end cold store in a row in Corby (UK). One cold store is in preconstruction in Madrid. One cold store is under construction in Bucharest. She is project managing all these CAPEX projects – three at a time – on behalf of NewCold. NewCold is the global market leader in the development and operation of fully automated cold stores. What does it take for a senior project manager to manage this accumulation of CAPEX projects well? A conversation about Corby, Madrid, Bucharest, NewCold and Anita Oosterbeek.

Strong Focus

In a CAPEX project (the abbreviation stands for CAPital EXpenditure), investors invest a lot of money in fixed assets such as buildings, machines or infrastructure. Their goal is mainly value creation in the long term. CAPEX projects usually have a higher budget, stricter approval procedures and a great strategic importance. This requires a strong focus on financial accountability, risks and returns from the CAPEX project director.

Anita Oosterbeek has made herself useful to NewCold in recent years by leading several of these CAPEX projects simultaneously. NewCold, with its head office in Breda, has branches on three continents. With more than 2700 employees, the company offers more than one million pallet spaces in cold store. The cold stores are kept at a constant -24 °C by energy-efficient systems. NewCold guarantees its customers 24/7 service according to the highest quality requirements in the food chain. This distinguishes NewCold from conventional deep-freeze companies.

Strong stakeholder management

Anita started her track record for NewCold in October 2020, in Corby, about 150 kilometers above London. The so-called phase 1 (the first cold store) was followed by phases 2 and 3 after completion. Anita: “When we built the first cold store, the UK had just left the European Union. That Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to hire contractors outside the UK. The complexity was different when building phases 2 and 3. Then you are building while the site is already operational. You then have to take into account operational processes in the existing cold stores. That creates dependencies with a strict timeline. By talking to each other a lot, solid stakeholder management and some give and take, we succeeded in realizing the three cold stores in Corby.”

“Hovering” above the projects

“When realizing a CAPEX project, you are always busy with financial accountability and you respond to possible risks as best as possible. Everything to not harm the return. If you manage two or even three CAPEX projects at the same time, you can only do that by ‘hanging’ over the projects. Then it is important to have good teams to whom you can delegate things. By facilitating and investing in teams, you can ensure that each team can fully utilize its strong competencies.

The cold store in Bucharest is under construction. I have a good project manager there. My role there is mainly observing and coaching. I look over his shoulder and make an additional effort if I think that is necessary. In Bucharest I am present at various meetings with the team and contractors, but also with the investors and the customer. At such moments, those people want to see the face of the project director so that they can express any concerns and questions they may have.

The project in Madrid is still in the preconstruction phase. An essential phase. The foundation really needs to be laid there. So I am much more on top of that. A junior project manager is looking at that with me and is taking on as many facilitating tasks as possible.”

Extra effort in preconstruction phase

“It is important to provide a lot of structure. I am very structured myself and I also demand that of the people who work with me. That requires a lot of effort from them and from me, especially in the preconstruction and early construction phase when work processes have to be coordinated. But at a certain point it becomes something like a well-oiled machine. Then everyone knows what to expect. Then the beginning and the end of the project are clear.”

Hovering above a project means that the distance becomes greater. Isn’t that a risk? Anita: “I make sure that I ‘descend’ into the meeting room or the work floor in Bucharest or Madrid often enough. I try to be present in project team meetings and everywhere else where important decisions have to be made. Then I hear what people are struggling with. If I notice that they are not able to figure it out, then I take more control. And I also regularly ask control questions. That way I keep my finger on the pulse.”

Cultural differences

Madrid, Bucharest, Corby. Three sites, three different cultures. How difficult does Anita find it to deal with that? “That is quite a challenge. In Bucharest, people are very friendly. When they say ‘yes’, I have to figure out whether that is a real ‘yes’ or a ‘yes’ out of politeness. In Madrid, it is different again. There, passion sometimes bursts out of the meeting rooms. They are not angry with each other, but they are very passionate. In England, the people I work with are very polite and also very direct. In the Netherlands, we are used to people who are very direct in their communication. That can be experienced as shocking in another culture. It is up to me to deal with these differences as best I can. I do that by evaluating the meetings well and by also reflecting on my own performance in that evaluation.”

Great asset to NewCold

Bram Hage is the founder and CEO of NewCold. He enjoys working with Anita Oosterbeek, as he said in the comment below:

“Since October 2020, our collaboration with MPM Business Navigators through Anita Oosterbeek, has proven to be a great asset to NewCold. Anita has consistently brought structure, drive, and a clear sense of direction to our major projects like Corby, Bucharest and Madrid. Her ability to align teams and deliver results has made a real impact, and we truly value the partnership.”

During her projects for NewCold, Anita Oosterbeek was also active for Oceanco for some time. In a next message more about the challenges at this builder of mega luxury yachts.