Nicholas "Nick" Merry is a British businessman who made his money in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 running a now defunct Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

-based dental biotechnology company called MicroDenteX as well as investment in gemstones in Guinea.

Until 2 October 2008, Nick Merry was chairman of Oxford United Football Club

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

, the club he has supported all his life. He played youth football for the club in the 1970s before a knee injury ended his career prematurely. He also played football for England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 at schoolboy level.

Merry is part of a consortium, Woodstock Partners Limited (or WPL) headed up by Ian Lenagan which bought the club for £1 from former chairman Firoz Kassam

Firoz Kassam

Firoz Kassam is a Tanzanian-born, businessman. He is the former owner of Oxford United F.C.He was born in Tanzania ofPakistani parents and came to Britain as a student during the 1970s....

. They are also in negotiations to buy the Kassam Stadium

Kassam Stadium

The Kassam Stadium is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner, and former chairman of the club, Firoz Kassam....

from Kassam.