The investment of £115m in a new research centre in Britain by Danish drugs group Novo Nordisk was hailed as “a vote of confidence in the UK's position as a world-leader in science and research” by David Gauke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

I was ever so slightly surprised that he didn’t say “Britain is open for business” as well. That seems to have become the stock reaction to this sort of announcement. Well, variety is the spice of life, I suppose.

Yes, it is good news, coming as it does after similar post-Brexit vote investment announcements by Novo’s domestic UK peers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.

The Government’s identification of pharmaceuticals as a key industry, which went hand in hand with a rather generous tax cut for drugs developed and patented here, appears to be paying off.

But here’s the thing: all these investments were headed our way before the EU referendum (see my above point about the tax cut).

It’s a relief that they have still landed in spite of it, and will therefore still create lots of economically welcome highly skilled, well paid jobs, plus lots of ancillary roles too.

It’s just that now, instead of adding to the economy, making it bigger, and helping the spread of prosperity, they’ll simply serve to replace jobs that are going away.

The most obviously comparable roles are those at the European Medicines Agency, which conducts scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the EU. It employs 900 people in Canary Wharf including, among their number, a lot of highly skilled well paid people who are likely to see their jobs exported, along with all the support staff that go with them.

They’re all going to have to start looking for accommodation on the continent if they want to stay with the body. And, if they’re British, they’re going to have to start thinking about things like visas too.

We have also started to see the export of still more highly skilled, well paid jobs from the City of London as banks and other financial institutions react to the Government’s mad insistence on a hard Brexit. Plus all the ancilliary jobs that go with them.

That hard Brexit will deny financial companies the passporting rights that facilitate their selling services across the continent. So they're shipping out to protect their businesses.

When ministers hail the post-Brexit success of the UK economy, it is also worth remembering that we are unlikely to hear about the jobs that might have been created alongside the ones Novo Nordisk is creating but now won’t be because of Brexit.

Companies like to announce where they are putting money, and jobs. They don’t tend to make a big fanfare about where they are not putting money and jobs. So we don't really know what this country has lost.

Experts sometimes try and make estimates, but as Michael Gove infamously said during the EU Referendum campaign, Britain doesn’t much like experts. Far easier to believe in alternative facts and the magic Brexit jobs fairy, hey.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Novo Nordisk’s investment is good news. But it pays to treat to the brouhaha accompanying its announcement, and the tub thumping from ministers like Mr Gauke, with a degree of scepticism.

Beyond the civil servants needed to handle negotiations, Breixt hasn't created any jobs, and when it comes to employment, the UK would have been better off in the EU.