LAURA Gordon has a big task on her perfectly manicured hands. They may be only 50 miles apart - 40 minutes on a good day by train - but Glasgow and Edinburgh are as different as Rangers and Celtic or Scotland and England.
Her job is to rid us of the centuries-old rivalries of the country's two biggest cities and get the business worlds of both to work together for the good of the economy.
Some job, given the almost national sport between the inhabitants of slaggin
g each other off - "you'll have had your tea" et al.
"It drives me mad," says the born and bred Glasweigan, who has been charged with creating Glasburgh plc.
Gordon says: "For the first time, politicians, city leaders and business people are keen to see collaboration. It is a mature and progressive approach and there is vision from our politicians. It is so important. Old rivalries are relics of the past and personal views are being abandoned for the good of Scotland and our economic prosperity."
For many, giving up a comfortable living as head of technology and media at Scottish law firm Boyds to take on such a Herculean task would seem crazy - but for Gordon, who clearly thrives on challenge, the job she has held for just over a year now was an answer to her prayers.
"When I spotted the job advert I immediately thought 'what a brilliant idea, I would love to do that'.
"It is all about connecting people, networking, communicating, and throughout my career this is the type of thing I did best. The two cities are very different but they both have so much to offer, and that is why this project will work."
Gordon has spent the past year as director of the Glasgow-Edinburgh City Collaboration. She says the role has received a very positive public reaction and most people she comes across believe it to make sense.
David Watt, executive director of the Institute of Directors in Scotland, says Gordon can indeed make a change, and make it work. He said: "The Scottish economy can only be strengthened by Glasgow and Edinburgh working together to create an even more vibrant hub of economic activity across the central belt of Scotland. Their joint growth and development will help focus the faster growth of the whole of central Scotland, at the same time raising the nation's international profile and economic attraction."
Gordon says the economic case for the collaboration project, funded by Edinburgh and Glasgow councils and Scottish Enterprise, is overwhelming. She says: "Over the years there has been a lot of research on the cities, focusing on the common areas for growth.
"Glasgow and Edinburgh have been doing OK, but there were many areas where it was clear they would be better working together. Manchester has been publicly saying it could be the second city in the UK - as long as Glasgow and Edinburgh don't work together."
No-one needs reminding of the recent decision by the Bank of New York to locate its headquarters with 4,000 jobs in Manchester, after deciding Edinburgh would not have enough of a population spread to cater for jobs growth.
If Glasgow and Edinburgh had pushed jointly, many in Scotland believe, there would have been no competition.
Business leaders have welcomed the effervescent and charismatic Gordon. She has a steely side and a reputation as a tough Glasgow corporate lawyer, and many believe she will indeed manage to bring the ancient cities together.
Gordon, the only director of both the Edinburgh and Glasgow chambers of commerce, is going through empty nest syndrome as her youngest son, Greg, has just joined his older brother, Adam, at Leeds University. Gordon says that without her job she would probably go crazy.
"I'm not very good at doing nothing. My husband laughs because the only time I really switch off is when I go to the gym or watch Coronation Street."
Growing up in Glasgow's south side, Gordon is the daughter of a cardiologist who wanted his daughter to follow him into the medical profession. The young Gordon instead decided to do French and psychology at Glasgow University, but harboured a hankering for law. Meeting her first husband at university , she married at just 20 and had her first child at 22.
"I do joke that I had my children to stop me working, but I never really sat still."
That is an understatement, according to friends. Gordon founded a recruitment agency, and an au pair agency, followed by a children's clothing party firm before deciding to go back to university to do a law degree part-time when she was 27.
However, after eight years as a lawyer the challenge of bringing together Scotland's two main cities was too strong to resist.
"There are lots of people interested in getting things moving, including the vital financial services industry, which needs the additional boost of an improved transport system," she says.
The project has been funded initially for only two years. Gordon accepts that much of the work involved requires long-term planning and investment and is hopeful it will continue.
"I want to stay and fight - it is too important not to carry on. I accept I can't do everything, but I hope I have over the last year begun to make things happen. The political leaders are showing vision and it is a mature and progressive approach. We are coming at issues from a different angle and it is gathering momentum."
Recent examples of progress include a feasibility study looking at conferences and big events that Glasgow and Edinburgh can jointly host and an option of twin-city tourism, where staff from both cities are sent to "the other place" to learn about the historical rival.
She adds: "We really have to tackle the rivalries, and you certainly don't get over a lifetime's prejudices immediately. But I've found attitudes are not as entrenched as they were 20 years ago. All the analysis says that collaboration is a necessity. We had a conference earlier this month using worldwide examples and it is the only way forward."
With a wish-list that friends say she will achieve, Gordon steps onto the Glasgow train from Waverley, adamant she will improve train times between the cities and make sure mobile phones and wi-fi connections work for the whole journey. She says: "We need far better transport infrastructure - the M8 needs to be a full motorway."
Brendan Dick, national manager at BT Scotland, believes Gordon is on the right track. He says: "Scotland is a small country and it is absolutely vital, in this age of global competition, that its two major cities work together to compete effectively in a world where success is often based on exploitation of our 'knowledge economy'. The cities are well served with communications and ICT capability and have the capacity to exploit this for long term benefit.
"The real challenge is achieving a sense of teamwork and hunger to get both cities really working well together for the greater good."
Gordon accepts she could always return to a legal career if the cities fall out. Indeed she would be welcomed back with open arms. Douglas Mill, chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland, says the profession has lost an "enthusiastic and vibrant person" but concedes the collaboration initiative will reap the benefits.
