I'm heading to a contract that is direct in the near future. I looked at a couple that would have been through contract agencies but at the end of the day this one tweaked my interest the most; so they are out there (direct contracts). Also, I needed a commute that was reasonable as my wife still flies out of our home town.
Of course EK, EY Qatar etc. are all direct contracts. Bellview, who I spoke to briefly about a job, out of Nigeria are also direct. I flew for DHL out of Bahrain and that was direct and a reasonable contract, just lousy management at the time. Apparently a bit better now but some of the oldest equipment out there as far as contracts go, and very dangerous comparatively.
Do you get to NRT with your current job. That is the easiest place to ask people about contract companies as there will be a mixture of WASINC, PARC, Hawaiian at one of three local pubs pretty much every night. I've spoken with a few and Hawaiian comes out on top as far as I can see.
Rishworth has some decent contracts but they have some problems that others don't appear to have. Some of the younger contract managers do not know a thing about aviation or airplanes and this causes problems. That is from personal experience.
Daretoaviate asked the question that I'd ask; what are you on now and how much jet time do you have? Also, do you have heavy long haul? Do you want to commute or are you happy with living in the country of the operator (depending on the country of course). There are a number of good TP jobs out there paying very well at the moment; would you consider that?