 In order to fund the scheme, Steers and Squire, assisted by Squire's brother-in-law Richard Norris, divided the expected profits into four, allocated themselves one portion each, and split the remaining portion in 1,200 parts, which they hoped to sell for £5 each.This would in theory raise £6,000, but it is unclear how many shares were actually sold, though it was at least 942, which would have raised £4,170.Steers began work, replacing the ford at Rufford with a bridge and building the first lock using stone from quarries at Harrock Hill and Bartons Delf, both locations fairly close to Rufford.