Dman35, I also find the Saxo trader platform very usable.
That maintenance fee is actually a custody fee of 0.12% pa, with a minimum of €5m/month, so if you hold more than €50k in shares it will be higher.
I don't have a Sterling account with Saxo but I believe you just have to ask for one. You then make lodgements to their Sterling account. Not sure if you get Saxo's rate for conversion or your own bank's when you do this (as I've never done it). The Saxo rate is 0.5% above or below the spot price for the currency. Unless you are trading pretty frequently and/or want to hedge currency bets, I'd wonder is it worth it -- I decided it wasn't for me. Apart from anything else it complicates your tax calculations because you have to separately account for share and currency gains/losses.
Institutional risk is something you're going to have with anyone. Saxo seemed no more risky to me than the other options. One assumes they follow the usual rules of holding client monies in separate accounts etc.