Hit website going in one direction

Reporter: HELEN KORN
Date online: 10 January 2013

WHAT started as a hobby has become a full-time career for an Oldhamer bringing One Direction fans closer to their idols.

Royton’s Chris Buckley runs the biggest One Direction website in the world — boasting a million visitors a month.

To cope with the demand — www.OneDirection.net is expected to grow to 1.5 million visitors this year — Chris’s company, Pixel Kicks — is looking for apprentices interested in social media.

Even celebrity gossip columnist Perez Hilton has been retweeting snippets from the team’s Twitter account - which has 176,000 followers — and from the band’s Facebook site, which has over 100,000 fans.

The site gives fans the chance to design their own band T-shirt, the winning design being made up for sale as official band merchandise.

Chris said: “I’ve always been a big fan of The X Factor and it started from there. I could see the potential for One Direction and thought it would be great to create a Facebook fan page and then subsequently a dedicated website.

“Now the site has really started to take off. We’ve got fans chatting on the forums, downloading pictures and apps, and we’ve got lots of plans to expand this year.”

On the back of the One Direction site, Pixel Kicks - based at The Sharp Project near Failsworth - has been contacted by companies keen to promote new up-and-coming artists.

To apply for apprentice roles, visit www.OnePopz.com/careers/