Nicola Bird is Chief Operating Officer of K W Bell Group and Founder & CEO of AccXel Construction School, bringing together industry leadership, housing delivery and skills innovation to support the future of UK construction. As a third-generation leader in a family construction business, Nicola oversees operations across residential development, groundworks, civil engineering, plant hire and education, helping drive sustainable growth and delivery within a challenging housing landscape.
Through Bell Homes and the wider Group, Nicola is closely involved in the practical realities of delivering new homes; from planning and infrastructure challenges to workforce development and community engagement. Alongside this, she founded AccXel Construction School, an industry-led training centre launched in 2021 with £1.96m Government funding, created to bridge the gap between education and employment and address critical sector skills shortages.
Nicola is a Board Member of the NCC (National Construction Colleges) CITB, and sits on the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Board, helping shape regional and national conversations around skills, productivity and sustainable growth. She also chairs the Forest Economic Partnership, bringing together business and public-sector partners to support economic resilience and infrastructure planning.
Combining operational insight with strategic leadership, Nicola is passionate about accelerating industry experience into the modern workforce, supporting SMEs through change, and ensuring the sector can deliver the homes and infrastructure the UK needs
