When the UK made it clear a year ago that it wanted to tax British companies on profits they earned abroad, Shire, the speciality pharmaceuticals group based in Basingstoke, southern England, began the search for a new headquarters.

Later this month, it shifts tax domicile to Dublin, in a move watched closely by others including the UK’s two remaining significant drugmakers, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, and Smith & Nephew, the medical devices group.