M&S is bringing back a retro biscuit selection box from the 50s

The Big Six biscuit assortment dates back to the 1950s (Picture: Courtney Pochin) Metro journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more For more than 70 years, M&S sold products in its stores under the St Michael brand. First launched in 1928, it was named after M&S’s co-founder, Michael Marks, and was initially used to signify items that were ‘the best quality’. Then in 2000, the logo slowly started being phased out until it disappeared completely from all shops. Brits may have noticed that M&S has been reviving the brand over the last few years, bringing back nostalgic treats like the St Michael Choc-O-Sandwich Cake from the 80s, and lost chocolate bars like Take 4, Jet, Sparks, Now, and Coconut Grove. And there’s more good news for St Michael fans, as another retro favourite is returning… The Big Six. St Michael’s Big Six dates back to the 1950s, and was a biscuit assortment box that featured teacakes, chocolate sandwich biscuits, and jaffa eclairs. The M&S product development team has revisited the heritage product and reimagined it for shoppers today, taking the original concept and design and giving the contents a shake-up ahead of Christmas. The biscuits inside the box are different, as M&S admits it’s unable to recreate all of the original treats. Instead, they’ve chosen to fill it with 21 biscuits across six customer-favourite varieties. The new and improved line-up includes Milk Chocolate Fudge Creams, Milk Chocolate Sandwich Fingers, Jam Sandwich Creams, Outrageously Chocolatey Marbled Whirls, All Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies, and Outrageously Chocolatey Milk Chocolate Shortcakes. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. Priced at £5, the biscuit box is available to buy now online at Ocado and will be available in stores nationwide from September 30. The box features a selection of six customer favourites (Picture: M&S) Martha Coakley, lead product developer for biscuits & savoury snacking at M&S, tells Metro: ‘The moment we found the original pack in the M&S Archive, we fell in love with it. ‘We wanted to capture that sense of nostalgia through our St Michael packaging, while filling it with the biscuits customers love today. ‘From Jam Sandwich Creams to our Outrageously Chocolatey favourites, it’s a joyful mix of old and new. For me, it’s everything Christmas should be: familiar, shareable and packed with M&S magic.’ Are you excited to see the St Michael brand making a comeback? This is the first I'm hearing of itCheck Sign up to Metro's The Slice newsletter for your guide to what's on in London, with trusted reviews, offers and giveaways. This is the first new mixed biscuit carton M&S has launched in years, and it joins the Outrageously Chocolatey Selection boxes (£6.50 each), as well as the All Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Selection (£6.50), M&S Scottish All Butter Shortbread Assortment Tin (£7.50), and M&S Belgian Biscuit Collection (£10). And we don’t doubt the assortment will prove popular with shoppers, given the recent response to M&S’s Big Mix chocolate tin, which some have claimed is ‘better than Quality Street’. The retailer unveiled The Big Six at its recent Christmas Showcase event, where guests said they ‘loved the look of the selection’ and thought it could ‘rival Fox’s festive biscuit selection this Christmas’. A number of other festive goodies were highlighted at the festive event too, including new cookies. Three new flavours are hitting the in-store bakery soon: Chunked N’ Loaded Sticky Apple Cookies, Chunked N’ Loaded Milk Chocolate, Malt & Caramel Cookies, plus Chocolate Cornflake Cookies. Other highlights to look out for in the Foodhall this Christmas include a revamped frozen dessert range with a S’mores Iced Cream Cake and Tiramisu Iced Cream Cake, a new Decaf Espresso Martini, a Merry Pizza Pie, and Clemencello – a new orange twist on limoncello. The history of St Michael at M&S... 1928 M&S first registered the trademark St Michael in 1928, which was inspired by one of the retailer’s bestselling lines, St Margaret hoisery. The new brand was named in honour of M&S founder Michael Marks. The brand was used only on the best-quality products that were made exclusively for M&S. 1950s In 1951, the St Michael logo changed from a simple font within a shield shape to a handwritten style. Food products weren’t added to the St Michael brand until 1954. The first item to bear the branding was thought to be the Almond Crisp biscuit. By 1958, all goods sold at M&S carried the St Michael brand, and in 1959 it was added to M&S carrier bags too. Advertising stated: ‘You can buy St Michael only at Marks & Spencer.’ 2000 M&S started phasing out the St Michael brand from 2000, though they kept the St Michael Promise, which was a guarantee of high-quality merchandise. A new M&S logo and visual identity were introduced, as well as new sub-brands such as Autograph and Per Una. 2021 The St Michael brand returned to M&S with a small selection of menswear items. 2025 – 2026 M&S started reviving iconic St Michael food products, such as Choc-O-Sandwich Cake, plus chocolate bars. A new St Michael clothing range was also launched in partnership with Aries. Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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