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In 2013, the United Kingdom began its most radical welfare reform in a generation - a government program to severely reduce spending on working-age benefit payments. The Financial Times saw an opportunity to illustrate a human and economic drama and through data analysis, it revealed an estimated loss of £19bn a year in annual welfare payments that could disrupt families, communities and businesses across the UK. The FT Austerity Audit was the first media investigation to explore and evaluate the economic and business consequences of the historic welfare reforms. Guided by exclusive data research that revealed a wide variation in the impact of the cuts, FT reporters fanned out across Britain to produce a startling analysis that generated heated debate: some northern towns and cities would be hit five-times as hard as suburban southern counties. The FT published an ambitious, two-day series that generated buzz across social media and much debate in the UK political sphere. Its story-telling was innovative and expansive - with interactive graphics, video, photography and text combined in a custom-designed website. The interactive map was rich in detail and both easy and exciting to use.